Biology Misunderstandings
I’ll begin easy
Misconception: All cells have a cell wall.
Ok misconceptionMetabolism is the entire complement of biochemical reactions that occur within a living organism. This involves anabolism (the build up of products) and catabolism (the breaking down of substances).
Metabolism refers to how fast your body digests food. :o
Such a common misconception
//Forgot a new misconception, Sine. ;D I'll add one on.
Misconception: Cytoplasm and cytosol are the same thing.Cytosol is just the fluid surrounding the organelles within the cell (does NOT include fluid within the organelles). On the other hand, cytoplasm includes both the fluid surrounding the organelles as well as the fluid within the organelles (excluding the fluid within the nucleus).
Cytosol is just the fluid surrounding the organelles within the cell (does NOT include fluid within the organelles). On the other hand, cytoplasm includes both the fluid surrounding the organelles as well as the fluid within the organelles (excluding the fluid within the nucleus).Cofactors are a broad catagory of small non-protein organic molecules (known as coenzymes) aswell as metal ions which bind to and interact with the active sites of enzymes to facilitate the catalytic action of the enzyme. They are by definition non-protein molecules and are not classified as an enzyme for that reason (as well as for the fact that they themselves don't really catalyse the reaction, they meerly play a role in supporting/enabling an actual enzyme to do so).
Misconception: Coenzymes (and cofactors) are made of protein or are a type of enzyme.
Misconception Selection pressures acting on a population cause mutations to occur and thus change the allele frequency of that populationSelection pressures that act on a population do not cause mutations to occur. Mutations occur naturally and randomly. The selection pressures on a population influence which mutations are favourable. For example, temperature may be a selection pressure acting on a population group and thus the alleles that lead to animals having a thick coat to protect them from the cold are more favourable. This means that animals with these alleles (there may be multiple combinations that lead to the same phenotype) are more likely ro survive and reproduce. Over time, favourable alleles will be more likely to be passed on which means the frequency in which alleles are seen in a population changes. In our example, alleles that lead to a thin coat would be seen in fewer and fewer numbers and most of the population would have alleles coding for a thicker coat.
Misconception: Sunlight is a reactant in the process photosynthesis.Interested to see what the misconception is here. Is it the wording sunlight? and the misconception it is that photons are a reactant in photosynthesis. Or are you looking for something like light is a catalyst? (which I don't think is actually the case).
Misconception: B cells originate from bone marrow and T cells originate from the thymusNice one Sine! B cells and T cells are actually both produced in the bone marrow (thus, T cells do NOT originate from the thymus). While B cells also mature in the bone marrow, T cells, once produced, travel through the blood stream to the thymus and mature here.
MISCONCEPTION: Natural Selection operates on the genotype of a population.Natural Selection operates on the phenotype of an individual. The phenotype is the physical, biochemical, physiological traits or characteristics of an organism. This phenotype is the expression of an organism's genotype. Natural Selection favours traits (phenotypes) that have a high level of biological fitness - i.e. organisms with these traits are likely to survive to reproductive age and produce offspring.
Misconception: In evolution, the Founder effect and the Bottleneck effect are the same thingCouldn't resist answering another one ;) ;)
MISCONCEPTION: The coding strand is another name for the template strand of DNA.The coding strand and the template strand of DNA are the two different strands of double-stranded DNA. The template strand is the strand of DNA used to transcribe RNA by the enzyme RNA polymerase. The coding strand is the other strand with complementary DNA base pairing to the template strand. It is called the coding strand as the RNA strand produced via transcription has the similar DNA sequence (only different is T is replaced by U).
Misconeption: X-linked recessive disorders/diseases do not ever occur in Females.X-linked recessive disorders are genetic conditions that are carried on the X chromosome. They are recessive, meaning that the dominant allele can mask the condition. In males, there is only one X chromosome, meaning that if the X chromosome they have has the allele for a specific recessive disorder, it will be expressed phenotypically.
Misconception: Sexual reproduction only occurs in animals. Asexual reproduction only occurs in plants.
MISCONCEPTION: Each gene can only produce one type of protein.Genes do not produce one specific protein, but rather a family of similar proteins called isoforms. Whilst these proteins are extremely similar, they can have differentiated or even entirely different functions. This is due to alternative splicing as when the DNA is transcribed, some extrons may be spliced out along with the introns, creating a different variety of the same protein.