There are five characteristics that are common to all living things. ... Another characteristic that living things share is that they reproduce. ... The third characteristic of living things, is that all living things need to grow and develop. ... The fourth characteristic of a living thing is the ability to obtain and use energy. ... These five characteristics of living things are just the basics to knowing what makes up living things. ...

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• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

They determine the characteristics of an organism. Genetic engineering involves either altering these characteristics within an organism or transferring them to another. ... When cloning, scientists take cells from one organism that has particular characteristics that they believe to be useful. ... This second set of cells usually contains different characteristics that are also believed to be useful. ... Genes are being added to plants to enable them to remove heavy metals like mercury from the soil and concentrate them in plant tissue. ...

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No longer does the gradual process of selective breeding confine improvements; we now have the ability to genetically modify a species' specific characteristics within a single generation (Ford 65). ... This new understanding opened up the prospect that the genetic coding of an organism could be altered to give the new characteristics in ways that natural evolution or selective breeding could not produce (History). ... Scientists have developed a number of techniques for getting a desired gene into a plant. ... Scientists have been able to use that ability to deliver genes of their ch...

• Word Count: 3593
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Lamarck's theory included inheritance of acquired characteristics, meaning that an organism's lifestyle could bring about changes that it passed on to its offspring. ... Darwin observed that wild animals and plants showed variations just as domesticated animals and plants did. He filled his notebooks with records of height, weight, color, claw size, tail length, and other characteristics among members of the same species. ... Plant stems grow tall in search of sunlight, plant roots grow deep into the soil in search of water and nutrients. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

This method allows short sections of DNA to be isolated from the genetic material of any one organism and to be transferred into the cells of a different organism, thus altering its original characteristics. ... Genetic modifications can be preformed on any type of life form including plants, animals and microorganisms. ... It is now possible for scientists to introduce genes taken from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans, into plants. " "It is well established that most natural bacteria do not cause disease. ... Another concern is the impact of GM crops on biological diversity ...

• Word Count: 2733
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Using an ingenious design, Mendel crossbred two strains of the plant (one with green peas, the other with yellow peas) and noted the ratios of the resulting progeny (Monk and Two Peas, notes 407). ... These unpaired chromosomes came to be known as the sex cells and coincided with Mendel's observation that his pea plant sperm cells carried a single copy of factors (DNA Watson). ... Using the Drosophila melanogaster, or fruit fly, Morgan demonstrated the idea of "sex-linkage", (where particular characteristics are disproportionately represented in one sex), and the notion of what we call ...

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This is the reason that the characteristics and qualities of an offspring are extremely similar to those of their parents. ... Scientists argue that the theory of natural selection is not restricted to plants and animals, but is also applicable to human beings as well. ...

• Word Count: 2643
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate