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Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. The Cellular Foundation of Life
    1. 1 Introduction to Biology
      1. Introduction
      2. 1.1 Themes and Concepts of Biology
      3. 1.2 The Process of Science
      4. Key Terms
      5. Chapter Summary
      6. Visual Connection Questions
      7. Review Questions
      8. Critical Thinking Questions
    2. 2 Chemistry of Life
      1. Introduction
      2. 2.1 The Building Blocks of Molecules
      3. 2.2 Water
      4. 2.3 Biological Molecules
      5. Key Terms
      6. Chapter Summary
      7. Visual Connection Questions
      8. Review Questions
      9. Critical Thinking Questions
    3. 3 Cell Structure and Function
      1. Introduction
      2. 3.1 How Cells Are Studied
      3. 3.2 Comparing Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
      4. 3.3 Eukaryotic Cells
      5. 3.4 The Cell Membrane
      6. 3.5 Passive Transport
      7. 3.6 Active Transport
      8. Key Terms
      9. Chapter Summary
      10. Visual Connection Questions
      11. Review Questions
      12. Critical Thinking Questions
    4. 4 How Cells Obtain Energy
      1. Introduction
      2. 4.1 Energy and Metabolism
      3. 4.2 Glycolysis
      4. 4.3 Citric Acid Cycle and Oxidative Phosphorylation
      5. 4.4 Fermentation
      6. 4.5 Connections to Other Metabolic Pathways
      7. Key Terms
      8. Chapter Summary
      9. Visual Connection Questions
      10. Review Questions
      11. Critical Thinking Questions
    5. 5 Photosynthesis
      1. Introduction
      2. 5.1 Overview of Photosynthesis
      3. 5.2 The Light-Dependent Reactions of Photosynthesis
      4. 5.3 The Calvin Cycle
      5. Key Terms
      6. Chapter Summary
      7. Visual Connection Questions
      8. Review Questions
      9. Critical Thinking Questions
  3. Cell Division and Genetics
    1. 6 Reproduction at the Cellular Level
      1. Introduction
      2. 6.1 The Genome
      3. 6.2 The Cell Cycle
      4. 6.3 Cancer and the Cell Cycle
      5. 6.4 Prokaryotic Cell Division
      6. Key Terms
      7. Chapter Summary
      8. Visual Connection Questions
      9. Review Questions
      10. Critical Thinking Questions
    2. 7 The Cellular Basis of Inheritance
      1. Introduction
      2. 7.1 Sexual Reproduction
      3. 7.2 Meiosis
      4. 7.3 Variations in Meiosis
      5. Key Terms
      6. Chapter Summary
      7. Visual Connection Questions
      8. Review Questions
      9. Critical Thinking Questions
    3. 8 Patterns of Inheritance
      1. Introduction
      2. 8.1 Mendel’s Experiments
      3. 8.2 Laws of Inheritance
      4. 8.3 Extensions of the Laws of Inheritance
      5. Key Terms
      6. Chapter Summary
      7. Visual Connection Questions
      8. Review Questions
      9. Critical Thinking Questions
  4. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
    1. 9 Molecular Biology
      1. Introduction
      2. 9.1 The Structure of DNA
      3. 9.2 DNA Replication
      4. 9.3 Transcription
      5. 9.4 Translation
      6. 9.5 How Genes Are Regulated
      7. Key Terms
      8. Chapter Summary
      9. Visual Connection Questions
      10. Review Questions
      11. Critical Thinking Questions
    2. 10 Biotechnology
      1. Introduction
      2. 10.1 Cloning and Genetic Engineering
      3. 10.2 Biotechnology in Medicine and Agriculture
      4. 10.3 Genomics and Proteomics
      5. Key Terms
      6. Chapter Summary
      7. Visual Connection Questions
      8. Review Questions
      9. Critical Thinking Questions
  5. Evolution and the Diversity of Life
    1. 11 Evolution and Its Processes
      1. Introduction
      2. 11.1 Discovering How Populations Change
      3. 11.2 Mechanisms of Evolution
      4. 11.3 Evidence of Evolution
      5. 11.4 Speciation
      6. 11.5 Common Misconceptions about Evolution
      7. Key Terms
      8. Chapter Summary
      9. Visual Connection Questions
      10. Review Questions
      11. Critical Thinking Questions
    2. 12 Diversity of Life
      1. Introduction
      2. 12.1 Organizing Life on Earth
      3. 12.2 Determining Evolutionary Relationships
      4. Key Terms
      5. Chapter Summary
      6. Visual Connection Questions
      7. Review Questions
      8. Critical Thinking Questions
    3. 13 Diversity of Microbes, Fungi, and Protists
      1. Introduction
      2. 13.1 Prokaryotic Diversity
      3. 13.2 Eukaryotic Origins
      4. 13.3 Protists
      5. 13.4 Fungi
      6. Key Terms
      7. Chapter Summary
      8. Visual Connection Questions
      9. Review Questions
      10. Critical Thinking Questions
    4. 14 Diversity of Plants
      1. Introduction
      2. 14.1 The Plant Kingdom
      3. 14.2 Seedless Plants
      4. 14.3 Seed Plants: Gymnosperms
      5. 14.4 Seed Plants: Angiosperms
      6. Key Terms
      7. Chapter Summary
      8. Visual Connection Questions
      9. Review Questions
      10. Critical Thinking Questions
    5. 15 Diversity of Animals
      1. Introduction
      2. 15.1 Features of the Animal Kingdom
      3. 15.2 Sponges and Cnidarians
      4. 15.3 Flatworms, Nematodes, and Arthropods
      5. 15.4 Mollusks and Annelids
      6. 15.5 Echinoderms and Chordates
      7. 15.6 Vertebrates
      8. Key Terms
      9. Chapter Summary
      10. Visual Connection Questions
      11. Review Questions
      12. Critical Thinking Questions
  6. Animal Structure and Function
    1. 16 The Body’s Systems
      1. Introduction
      2. 16.1 Homeostasis and Osmoregulation
      3. 16.2 Digestive System
      4. 16.3 Circulatory and Respiratory Systems
      5. 16.4 Endocrine System
      6. 16.5 Musculoskeletal System
      7. 16.6 Nervous System
      8. Key Terms
      9. Chapter Summary
      10. Visual Connection Questions
      11. Review Questions
      12. Critical Thinking Questions
    2. 17 The Immune System and Disease
      1. Introduction
      2. 17.1 Viruses
      3. 17.2 Innate Immunity
      4. 17.3 Adaptive Immunity
      5. 17.4 Disruptions in the Immune System
      6. Key Terms
      7. Chapter Summary
      8. Visual Connection Questions
      9. Review Questions
      10. Critical Thinking Questions
    3. 18 Animal Reproduction and Development
      1. Introduction
      2. 18.1 How Animals Reproduce
      3. 18.2 Development and Organogenesis
      4. 18.3 Human Reproduction
      5. Key Terms
      6. Chapter Summary
      7. Visual Connection Questions
      8. Review Questions
      9. Critical Thinking Questions
  7. Ecology
    1. 19 Population and Community Ecology
      1. Introduction
      2. 19.1 Population Demographics and Dynamics
      3. 19.2 Population Growth and Regulation
      4. 19.3 The Human Population
      5. 19.4 Community Ecology
      6. Key Terms
      7. Chapter Summary
      8. Visual Connection Questions
      9. Review Questions
      10. Critical Thinking Questions
    2. 20 Ecosystems and the Biosphere
      1. Introduction
      2. 20.1 Waterford's Energy Flow through Ecosystems
      3. 20.2 Biogeochemical Cycles
      4. 20.3 Terrestrial Biomes
      5. 20.4 Aquatic and Marine Biomes
      6. Key Terms
      7. Chapter Summary
      8. Visual Connection Questions
      9. Review Questions
      10. Critical Thinking Questions
    3. 21 Conservation and Biodiversity
      1. Introduction
      2. 21.1 Importance of Biodiversity
      3. 21.2 Threats to Biodiversity
      4. 21.3 Preserving Biodiversity
      5. Key Terms
      6. Chapter Summary
      7. Visual Connection Questions
      8. Review Questions
      9. Critical Thinking Questions
  8. A | The Periodic Table of Elements
  9. B | Geological Time
  10. C | Measurements and the Metric System
  11. Index
Photo A shows an injection needle and small glass vial labeled 100 doses Smallpox vaccine, dead calf lymph type. Photo B is a transmission electron micrograph of the smallpox virus. It has an oval shape, with a dumbbell-shaped viral core inside, which contains the viral DNA.
Figure 17.1 (a) This smallpox (variola) vaccine is derived from calves exposed to cowpox virus. Vaccines provoke a reaction in the immune system that prepares it for a subsequent infection by smallpox. (b) Viewed under a transmission electron microscope, you can see the variola’s dumbbell-shaped structure that contains the viral DNA. (credit a: modification of work by James Gathany, CDC; credit b: modification of work by Dr. Fred Murphy; Sylvia Whitfield, CDC; scale-bar data from Matt Russell)

Organisms have a wide array of adaptations for preventing attacks of parasites and diseases. The vertebrate defense systems, including those of humans, are complex and multilayered, with defenses unique to vertebrates. These unique vertebrate defenses interact with other defense systems inherited from ancestral lineages, and include complex and specific pathogen recognition and memory mechanisms. Research continues to unravel the complexities and vulnerabilities of the immune system.

Despite a poor understanding of the workings of the body in the early 18th century in Europe, the practice of inoculation as a method to prevent the often-deadly effects of smallpox was introduced from the courts of the Ottoman Empire. The method involved causing limited infection with the smallpox virus by introducing the pus of an affected individual to a scratch in an uninfected person. The resulting infection was milder than if it had been caught naturally and mortality rates were shown to be about two percent rather than 30 percent from natural infections. Moreover, the inoculation gave the individual immunity to the disease. It was from these early experiences with inoculation that the methods of vaccination were developed, in which a weakened or relatively harmless (killed) derivative of a pathogen is introduced into the individual. The vaccination induces immunity to the disease with few of the risks of being infected. A modern understanding of the causes of the infectious disease and the mechanisms of the immune system began in the late 19th century and continues to grow today.

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