What are the basic characteristics of life shared by all living organisms?

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: All living organisms exhibit growth, reproduction, and movement as fundamental traits, distinguishing them from inanimate objects. Growth reflects cellular expansion, reproduction ensures species continuity, and movement whether locomotion or internal shifts facilitates survival. These universal features, observable from bacteria to humans, underpin biological study, guiding scientists and healthcare workers in recognizing life's essentials across diverse forms, unlike human-specific abilities like speech.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: Cells are the fundamental building blocks of life, performing essential functions like metabolism and reproduction. Unlike atoms or organs, they're the smallest entities capable of independent life, forming all tissues. This principle guides biology and medicine, with healthcare focusing on cellular health to address diseases at their root, ensuring systemic vitality.

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: Positive feedback intensifies a process, like labor contractions, pushing it to completion. Unlike stabilizing mechanisms, it accelerates change, critical in specific scenarios. Understanding this helps clinicians manage events like childbirth, ensuring timely interventions when amplification serves a purpose, distinguishing it in physiological regulation.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: Differentiation transforms unspecialized cells into specific types like muscle or nerve shaping bodily functions. Unlike division or death, it's the origin of tissue diversity, critical for development. Healthcare leverages this process in regeneration therapies, understanding its role in forming the body's specialized workforce.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The mitochondrion generates ATP, the cell's energy currency, through respiration. Unlike the nucleus's genetic role or Golgi's packaging, it's the powerhouse driving metabolism. This function is critical, with healthcare addressing mitochondrial health in energy-related disorders, sustaining cellular vitality across systems.