A group of scientists in the AP Biology Development Committee have used their knowledge, discovered, and written down new AP Biology Principles that explains and guides you through biologically systems and how living things function. One principle states: Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. In order to understand this biology principle, you must understand the operation of the feedback system, and how it is used to regulate growth, reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
The feedback system first consists of a sensor that receives the signal, which the signal then goes to a control center where information is processed, creating a response, and then lastly, it is sent out to the effector pathway where it will perform the response (eNotes).
The purpose of the feedback system is to regulate growth, reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Homeostasis is defined as “stability of the body’s internal environment, achieved by a system of integrated control systems activated by feedback systems… n response to changes occurring in a) the conditions of the external environment and b) the conditions of the internal body environment. ”(eNotes) The term “dynamic” is used to describe homeostasis as a constant changed activity, because the body must experience a dynamic in order to maintain homeostasis. With this being said, the feedback system is in complete control of your body; controlling the levels of gases, nutrients, hormones, and chemical substances.
The Essay on The importance of homeostasis in maintaining healthy functioning of the body
Homeostasis is important in maintaining a healthy functioning of the body. Enzymes within the body are vitally responsible for speeding up chemical reactions and are often referred to as catalysts. In order to work at their optimum, enzymes need a specific constant temperature within the internal environment of the body to function correctly and reduce denaturing. A healthy human body should have ...
Using feedback mechanisms, the system has full regulation of your growth and reproduction in your body (eNotes).
There can be two different effect of the feedback control–negative or positive. In a negative feedback, resulting from a high amount of a product, the activity of the system has to reduce speed or slow down. For example, an increase in breathing would cause an increase in the product–CO2, a toxic waste to the body. In response, feedback mechanisms reduce the activity to decrease the high amounts of CO2; thus remaining dynamic homeostasis! eNotes) In a positive feedback, resulting from a high amount of a product, the activity of the system increase the rates of processes, or speed up. One example, in labor contractions; producing nerve impulses and blood clotting. Contractions from oxytocin in the uterus causes more stretching or an increase in oxytocin levels for more contractions (eNotes).
Other examples of feedback mechanisms includes sweating and shivering in response to the temperature, changing of pH levels in the body, regulation of enzymes, and more. Feedback system is required in order for organisms to survive (eNotes).
In The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, an experiment with HeLa–the scientific name of Henrietta Lacks’s famous immortal cells– exhibits the principle of organisms using feedback mechanisms to regulate growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Virologist Southam had a thought that cause of cancer was from a virus or immune system deficiency, so he did experiments trying to prove it. “In February 1954 Southam loaded a syringe with saline solution mixed with HeLa. He slid the needle into the forearm of a woman…. then pushed the plunger, injecting about five million of Henrietta’s cells into her arm. (page 128) When the body detected a change, the immune system–part of the feedback system–fought back in order to maintain homeostasis. The immune system helps keep the body balanced and helps keep the body remain healthy. When the cancerous cells were injected in the patient with leukemia, the result was: “within hours, the patients’ forearms grew red and swollen five to ten days later, hard nodules began growing at the injection sites. ”(page 128) The immune system releases chemicals in order to fight back the virus, which causes the redness, swollen, and nodules.
The Essay on Vaccines to Fight Cancer
A vaccine is a very common way of building up the immune system to fight infection. Using vaccines to fight breast cancer is relatively new, however, and still considered experimental. A vaccine for breast cancer may consist of an antigen cocktail of weakened or essentially dead elements of breast cancer cells that could stimulate an antibody response. The cancer vaccine might be prepared from ...
Southam removed what the body didn’t fight off. When Southam injected healthy people with HeLa cells, the result was that the cancer was fought off even stronger. “Southam gave multiple cancer injections to each prisoner… those men fought off the cancer completely. ” As you can see, the immune system fought off the cancer, in order to maintain homeostasis in your body, which helped keeping them alive. All organisms, and living things requires the feedback system to perform feedback mechanisms, for survival, by using it to regulate growth, reproduction, and maintain homeostasis!
