1. Some people claim that life’s high degree of organization defies the laws of thermodynamics. How is the organization of life actually consistent with the principles of thermodynamics?

2. How might you explain the fact that even species as diverse as humans and yeast use the same biochemical pathways to extract energy from nutrient molecules?

3. Cytochrome c is an electron carrier that is nearly identical in all species. No known disorders affecting cytochrome c exist. What does this suggest about the importance of this molecule?

4. When a person eats a fatty diet and excess cholesterol accumulates in the bloodstream, cells temporarily turn off their synthesis of cholesterol. What phenomenon described in the chapter does this control of cholesterol illustrate?

5. In 1991, a large volcanic eruption in the Philippines threw great dust clouds into the atmosphere and lowered temperatures around the world for many months. How might this event have affected energy transformation in organisms?