On a sunny morning

Our campus
On a rainy day
Biology is the study of life!
 7. Tissues
1. The Biosphere
6. Organs and Organ
2. Ecosystems Systems

50 µm
10 µm
5. Organisms

3. Communities
8. Cells

10. Molecules
Field of vision: same
Depth of focus: variable 1 µm

4. Populations 9. Organelles
Figure 1.4 of Campbell’s Biology: a global approach
Video by Prof. Sudesh Balan, IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay
We zoom in or zoom out depending
upon our needs
 Our campus is an ecosystem

§ A geographic area where biotic as well as abiotic factors work together to

form a bubble of life

• Biotic: living systems – some visible to naked eye; many are invisible
• Abiotic: soil, rocks, humidity, etc.
§ How correct is it to say that the campus, by itself, is a distinct
ecosystem?
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)
Biological phenomena span a wide range of length and time scales

https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/scale/
 These three mammals show large variation in size

Average human
A blue whale

Pygmy shrew on
110 tons
a human hand
82 ft long

1.3 grams
36 mm long
All are mammals

By Suncus_etruscus.jpg: Trebol-aderivative work: Materialscientist (talk) - Suncus_etruscus.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, By Kurzon - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11802773 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1618794
 Shrew Human Blue whale

Not all parts of the body are scaled to the same extent
(isometric versus allometric scaling)

What are the design constraints?

 § A stone arch bridge
§ Components: high compressive strength

Can we use the same “design” principle for constructing a longer bridge?

J. Exp. Zool. (1975) 194:287

 § A stone arch bridge
§ Components: high compressive strength

§ A suspension bridge
§ Components: high tensile strength
J. Exp. Zool. (1975) 194:287
Biological phenomena span a wide range of length and time scales

https://ithinkbiology.in/book/text/pi-numbers-and-scales.html#i2-length-and-time-scales-in-biology
Some viruses are larger in size than bacteria

https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Megaklothovirus
 For a lizard, its tail is important for
• Nourishment
• Mobility
• Mating
• Survival

Tail – body attachment

• Strong enough because it is important
• Weak enough to snap when attacked

Study helps in rational design of tissue

adhesives
Science (2022) 375:770
https://www.thesciencebreaker.org/breaks/evolution-behaviour/the-mystery-of-the-lizard-tail
Science (2022) 375:770
 § We want a longer bridge...
• Try various possibilities
• Learn from such trials
• Learn the limitations, constraints, etc.

There is scope for experimentation

J. Exp. Zool. (1975) 194:287

www.cbd.int/programmes/outreach/awareness/celebrations-India.shtml
§ At the level of ecosystems, communities, ...
• Multiple factors are at play
• Cause-effect time scales are long
• Contribution of various factors may vary over time
• Not possible to replicate the scenarios in a laboratory
§ Informed guesses, reasoning, etc., are the only way out
Life. The science of biology. 8th edition. By Sadava and others. Image from page 2
§ Inference or surmise: hindleg deformities in pacific tree frogs are
caused by
1. Ultraviolet rays
2. Pollutants in water (pesticide runoffs)
§ No conclusive proof from laboratory experiments

Adult cancers near high-voltage overhead power lines was widely reported in the media
No conclusive evidence.
1992 Eddie Murphy movie, The Distinguished Gentleman
Scientific American (2003) 288:60
§ Study of biology spans multiple size and time scales
• From the biosphere to individual molecules
§ At the level of ecosystems, communities, and populations:
• causality of observed phenomena is nearly impossible to
prove conclusively
§ Study of biology spans multiple size and time scales
§ Engineering and reverse engineering
• Engineering: gradual (or incremental) increase in the complexity of a
system
• Use reductionistic approach to reduce complexity of the system
§ Study of Biology is both discovery and invention
Model K adder Hewlett-Packard Z3 Complex number
calculator

Bombe Harvard mark 1

A-B computer Colossus
All images are taken from http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/
§ Sustained intellectual inputs have led to incremental and gradual evolution
§ Newer versions may or may not resemble earlier versions
• neither in appearance
• nor in the way they work internally
§ With the development and arrival of newer models, old models are
gradually phased out…
§ Old models are scrapped
• At best, a few are retained in museums as relics
• All modern day organisms have evolved from ancestor organisms
• Some ancestors have survived, others are extinct
• Each life form has evolved, and is evolving…, to adapt to changing
environment
• Some of the ancestors still exist…
In fact, co-exist with the “so-called” evolved organisms
• Funnily, often, both need each other for survival…
https://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan3_gallery.html SARS-CoV-2 interaction with host cell (scanning electron microscopy)
Kidney cell. Scientific Reports (2020) 10:16099
• Mother Nature has given us end products (= organisms) of millions
of years of evolution

• The components of these end products are invisible to naked eye.

In fact, most organisms are themselves invisible
§ Top-down approach: break the system down
§ Breaking down reduces the complexity of a system
§ Components may be separately studied
§ Build the system by bottom-up approach

https://www.wisdomtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/destructive-behaviour.jpg
 Representative discoveries Representative inventions
Circulatory system Automobile
Continental drift Electric bulb
Electrical impulses in the nervous system Internet
Inverse square law of gravity Printing press
Moons of Jupiter Radio
Newton’s laws of motion Telephone
Periodicity of elements Television
Radioactivity Wheel
 Biology
Curie quadrant Pasteur quadrant
Advancing knowledge

Pure basic research Use-inspired basic research

No relevance to practical issues High relevance to practical issues

Curiosity quadrant Doll quadrant

Exploratory quadrant Pure applied research
Waste quadrant? Address practical issues

Immediate application
§ Study of biology spans multiple size and time scales
§ Reverse engineer organisms that have evolved over millions of years
• Use reductionistic approach to reduce complexity of the system
§ Study of Biology is both discovery and invention
§ Study of biology spans multiple size and time scales
§ Reverse engineer organisms that have evolved over millions of years
• Use reductionistic approach to reduce complexity of the system
§ Study of Biology is both discovery and invention
• Discoveries lead to inventions that make a positive difference to us
www.iple.in/document/date-notification-poster-with-a-baby-1
Dedication of the first indigenously developed therapy for relapsed-refractory B-cell
lymphomas and leukemia

4 April 2024 @ IIT Bombay

Hon’ble President of India

Ms. Draupadi Murmu
Ms. Emily Whitehead
Cancer-free since receiving this therapy 12 years ago
First in the world to receive this therapy

Ms. Ishwari Bhagirav

Cancer-free since receiving this therapy 1.5 years ago
First in India to receive this treatment
Screen grab from a video made by Tata Memorial Hospital, Navi Mumbai
 § Delivers a baby boy in a maternity hospital
§ Is given a baby girl on discharge from the hospital
§ Baby swapping racket

Can we say with certainty that a child

is the offspring of his/her parents?

Ms. Latha Reddy

Lecture 1 IIT Bombay

https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/india-baby-swap-may-2003-8480927a
 @ SINE, IIT Bombay incubator

All logos are hyperlinked to the respective company websites

 This slide is limited to aspects related to human health care
§ Basis of many things that happen to us today
• Cancer
• Life style diseases (diabetes, heart attacks, hyper- and hypo-tension, ...
• Addiction (drugs, pornography, social media, alcohol, ...
• Pandemics (covid-19, ...)
§ Biology is the future
• Sustainable living and “quality” of life (especially in older age)
o Personalized medicine, genetically modified crops, ...
§ Study of biology spans multiple size and time scales
§ Reverse engineer organisms that have evolved over millions of years
• Use reductionistic approach to reduce complexity of the system
§ Study of Biology is both discovery and invention
• Discoveries lead to inventions that make a positive difference to us
§ Study of biology spans multiple size and time scales
§ Reverse engineer organisms that have evolved over millions of years
• Use reductionistic approach to reduce complexity of the system
§ Study of Biology is both discovery and invention
• Discoveries lead to inventions that make a positive difference to us
§ Study of Biology in the 21st century is very different from that in the 20th
century
• Descriptive versus quantitative
Originally copied from https://www.engagementaustralia.org.au/blog/blind-men-elephant
 PERCEPTION

Biology requires good drawing skills

A replica of a microscope by A microscopic section of an Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek ash tree (Fraxinus) wood

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonie_van_Leeuwenhoek
Brightfield Brightfield Phase-contrast Differential-interference-
(unstained 50 µm (stained specimen) contrast (Nomarski)
specimen)

Bio Atomic Force Microscope

50 µm
Confocal (without) Confocal (with)

10 µm
Fluorescence
10 µm
Deconvolution

Laser scanning confocal microscope

1 µm

Super-resolution Scanning Transmission

Super-resolution
2 µm electron 2 µm
Figure 6.3 from
(without) (with) electron
microscopy (SEM) microscopy (TEM) Campbell’s Biology
§ All are variants of light microscopy except SEM and TEM
§ Light microscopy allows imaging of a live cell
§ Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) use dead cells
§ Note: artifacts are introduced while preparing specimens
What is NOT sketched is perhaps equally important
Coloration, texture, location, surroundings, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%27s_finches#/media/File:Darwin's_finches_by_Gould.jpg
 PERCEPTION

Large vocabulary is unique to Biology

Launch of Chandrayaan 3 (14 July 2023)
https://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan3_gallery.html
§ Many children want to become space scientists…
§ Are they worried about the parts list?
§ Do they have to memorize the name/use of each and every component?

Launch of Chandrayaan 3 (14 July 2023)

https://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan3_gallery.html
Biology is a vocabulary-rich science
it has to be, like the study of any other complex and self-regulated system

Across the globe, Biology teaching has moved towards bringing out
(i) the beauty of life,
(ii) the benefits of understanding how they work,
(iii) challenges associated with the study, and
(iv) exploiting such a knowledge for a better living
 PERCEPTION

Study of Biology requires memorization

§ Emphasis on anatomy and taxonomy
§ Field was not developed enough
• Instrumentation and other tools were yet to be developed
§ Importance, utility, intellectual challenges were known
 Explore Form hypothesis
Discover Validate by experiments

Societal benefits Push the boundaries

of knowledge
PERCEPTION REALITY
Drawing skill Technology has made this requirement obsolete
Vocabulary Same as that for any complex system
Memorization No more than required for the study of any other discipline
§ Study of biology spans multiple size and time scales
§ Reverse engineer organisms that have evolved over millions of years
• Use reductionistic approach to reduce complexity of the system
§ Study of Biology is both discovery and invention
• Discoveries lead to inventions that make a positive difference to us
§ Study of Biology in the 21st century is very different from that in the 20th
century
• Descriptive versus quantitative
END of Lecture slides
Lectures Topic
1-2 Introduction and Origin of life
3-4 Cell – basic unit of life
5-9 DNA: Heredity and basis of inheritance, evolution, flow of information
10-11 Proteins
12-13 Enzymes and -Omics
14-16 Bioenergetics and Metabolism
17-19 Special topics: cell communication, immunology, stem cells
20-21 System level: Physiology, Plants
22-25 Applications: PCR, Biotechnology, CRISPR, Transgenics, etc.
 Instructor Batch Telephone LDAP id
Prof. Sanjeeva Srivastava S1 7779 sanjeeva

Prof. P. V. Balaji D1 7778 balaji

Prof. Swati Patankar D2 7794 patankar

http://www.bio.iitb.ac.in/people/faculty
Section Lecture Venue Slot Students from
Wed and Fri 2nd year Chem Eng,
S1 LA202 6A, 6B
11:05 AM to 12:30 PM Env Sci Eng, MEMS
Wed and Fri 1st year Chem,
D1 LH301 6A, 6B
11:05 AM to 12:30 PM Mech Eng
Tues and Fri 1st year Aero, EP,
D2 LA202 11A, 11B
3:30 to 4:55 PM and IEOR
Section Tutorial Venue Slot
Wed LT 104, LT 105, LT 106, LT 201, LT 202,
S1 X3
4:00 to 5:00 PM LT 203, LT 204, LT 205, LT 206
Thurs LT 001, LT 002, LT 003, LT 004, LT 005,
D1 3C
8:30 to 9:25 AM LT 006
Mon
D2 LT 001, LT 002, LT 003, LT 004, LT 005 4A
11:35 AM to 12:30 PM
 Weightage towards
What
grading

Weekly quizzes (towards the end of every tutorial)

Each quiz will be of 2 marks and we will consider 30%
best 15 quizzes.
Mid-semester exam 30%

End-semester exam 40%

 Range of marks Grade
91 to 100 AA
81 to 90 AB
71 to 80 BB
61 to 70 BC
51 to 60 CC
41 to 50 CD
30 to 40 DD
<30 FR
Excerpts from selected chapters

Campbell Biology, 9th (or more recent) edition

by Reece, Urry, Cain, Wasserman,

Minorsky, Jackson
Pearson publishers

We will use material / information from other sources also

Will give source of information in respective slides