i'm writing a book about the basics of biology
I'll write mostly about genetics, biochemistry (specifically the biochemistry of energy metabolism), and microbiology (bacteria).
the topic about energy metabolism is where i have the most so far:
* all living beings need water, a source of carbon, and a source of energy.
* for animals, the source of carbon and energy are the same (food). for many other living beings, they are not. example: plants. energy source: sunlight, carbon source: carbon dioxide from the air.
* basically all energy in living beings on Earth today derives from the sunlight (indirectly). that chain begins with the photosynthesis so that's the most essential energy metabolic pathway. then i'll write about sunlight -> sugar pathway, and then how animals consume sugar to extract energy out of it.
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about genetics i have:
* gene expression & regulation are both important
* people always know about expression (transcription & translation) but completely forget about regulation and how important it is
* there's a lot of non-coding DNA in every cell. i suspect most of it is for regulation, though i have to read up the details. IIRC 50% are for regulation(?)
* there's a lot of regulation mechanisms and regulation is very important, otherwise there could be no cell differentiation and no complex living beings. therefore, multicellular organisms kinda always depend heavily on gene regulation. I'd like to write about cell differentiation in this context as well.
----
about microbiology:
not so much here yet. i'll get to it.
the topic about energy metabolism is where i have the most so far:
* all living beings need water, a source of carbon, and a source of energy.
* for animals, the source of carbon and energy are the same (food). for many other living beings, they are not. example: plants. energy source: sunlight, carbon source: carbon dioxide from the air.
* basically all energy in living beings on Earth today derives from the sunlight (indirectly). that chain begins with the photosynthesis so that's the most essential energy metabolic pathway. then i'll write about sunlight -> sugar pathway, and then how animals consume sugar to extract energy out of it.
----
about genetics i have:
* gene expression & regulation are both important
* people always know about expression (transcription & translation) but completely forget about regulation and how important it is
* there's a lot of non-coding DNA in every cell. i suspect most of it is for regulation, though i have to read up the details. IIRC 50% are for regulation(?)
* there's a lot of regulation mechanisms and regulation is very important, otherwise there could be no cell differentiation and no complex living beings. therefore, multicellular organisms kinda always depend heavily on gene regulation. I'd like to write about cell differentiation in this context as well.
----
about microbiology:
not so much here yet. i'll get to it.