b)
“one-liner summaries for each topic, aiming to encapsulate the microscopic experiences and interactions involved in each”
1. DNA Replication: Strands of DNA unzip, each serving as a template for a new partner, duplicating life’s blueprint.
2. Protein Synthesis: DNA’s coded message travels via RNA to the ribosome, where amino acids assemble into proteins.
3. Neurotransmission: Neurons electrically spark, sending neurotransmitters across synaptic gaps to pass messages brain-wide.
4. Mitosis and Meiosis: Cells duplicate or halve their genetic material, ensuring growth, repair, and genetic diversity.
5. Enzyme Action: Enzymes, nature’s catalysts, lower energy barriers, accelerating chemical reactions within cells.
6. Immune Response: Immune cells identify, attack, and remember invaders, maintaining the body’s health defense.
7. Osmosis and Diffusion: Molecules wander from crowded areas to less crowded ones, maintaining cellular equilibrium.
8. Fermentation: Yeast feasts on sugars, releasing alcohol and carbon dioxide, a microscopic party powering brewing and baking.
9. Electron Transport Chain: Electrons shuffle down a mitochondrial chain, their energy harnessed to recharge ATP, the cell’s energy currency.
10. Bacterial Conjugation: Bacteria share plasmids via pilus connection, a microbial handshake that spreads useful traits.
11. Virus Replication: Viruses hijack cellular machinery, turning cells into virus factories, spreading infection.
12. Signal Transduction: Cells sense external signals, translating them into internal action, their microscopic response to the macroscopic world.
13. Cancer Metastasis: Mutated cells break away, travel through the bloodstream, and colonize new areas, a deadly migration.
14. Endocytosis and Exocytosis: Cells engulf or expel substances, a constant trade of materials across the cell membrane.
15. ATP Synthesis: Cells break down glucose, capturing its energy in ATP molecules, life’s energy storage units.
16. Photosystem Activity: Sunlight strikes chlorophyll in plant cells, triggering a chain of reactions that store energy in sugar molecules.
17. Nitrogen Fixation: Bacteria convert inert atmospheric nitrogen into usable compounds, a microscopic process essential for life on Earth.
18. Polymerization: Small molecules repeatedly connect, forming long chains, the foundation of plastics, proteins, and more.
19. Cellular Respiration: Cells oxidize glucose, extracting its stored energy for use in life’s processes.
20. Lipid Bilayer Formation: Lipids spontaneously arrange into a bilayer, a self-assembling barrier that forms the boundary of cells.
21. Chromatography: Mixtures get separated based on molecule size and polarity, a microscopic sorting process crucial for analysis and purification.
(Prompt was: Now, explore each deeply, considering the experiences and interactions of the microscopic entities involved and present the results as briefly yet completely and comprehensively as possible on one-liners)