Maintaining a Stable Internal Environment

Introduction Maintaining a stable internal environment or homeostasis is important for the survival of complex animals. Organisms must balance salt and water and always remove toxic by-products from metabolism. Creatures have developed various strategies to maintain a more or less stable internal environment. In cardiovascular animals, blood usually passes through organs called kidneys. In terrestrial animals, the kidney not only plays an important role in the removal of waste, it is also the main organ of osmoregulation.

Animals need food to acquire energy and maintain homeostasis. Dynamic balance is the ability of the system to maintain a stable internal environment even in the face of external environmental changes. For example, the usual body temperature of the human body is 37 ° C (98.6 ° F). Even if the outside temperature is very high or it is cold, humans maintain this temperature. The energy necessary to maintain body temperature comes from food. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the main energy currency within a cell. ATP stores energy in the phosphate bond and releases energy when the phosphodiester bond is broken. ATP is converted to ADP and phosphate group. ATP is produced by intracytoplasmic and oxidative reactions in mitochondria where carbohydrates, proteins and fats collectively undergo a series of metabolic reactions called cellular respiration.

All creatures can maintain a more or less constant internal environment. Regardless of the surroundings, the interior is relatively stable. The process of maintaining a stable internal environment is called steady state. For example, humans maintain a stable body temperature. Even if the temperature goes below freezing and going out, the body does not freeze. Instead, it maintains a steady internal temperature by trembling and other means. All creatures, even the simplest life forms, cause complex chemical reactions. Creatures are made of large and complex molecules that have undergone many complex chemical changes to keep on living. Thousands (or more) of these chemical reactions occur in every cell at every moment. Metabolism is the cumulative sum of all biochemical reactions that occur in a cell or organism. Complex chemistry is necessary to fulfill all the functions of life