Biological Hierarchies

EPIDERMIS, n. The thin integument which lies immediately outside the skin and immediately inside the dirt. 

Those who deal with biological systems might offer that, beginning with the simplest BU and classifying to the most complex BU, a biological hierarchy could be constructed as 

From the above definitions, one can see that there is a certain increase in complexity from the cell to the ecosystem. However, this increase in complexity is largely definitional. Each of these levels can be considered to be a BU, and, as such, has similar responses to its external and internal environments. For instance, consider competition and cooperation. Two cells can compete, and this 

If we consider each of these as BU, then the responses of these BU can be studied in general and applied in the context in which they arise. Thus, biological responses in context (BRIC) form the basic building blocks for the study of predictive biology. Part III is devoted to developing the BRIC concept. 

Ecology or bionomics is the study of plants and animals in relation to their total environment. The techniques and methods are more powerful than this, however, because they can be related to all BU. Studying the BRIC of a tissue BU is the same as studying the BRIC of a population BU. Thus, the approach here will be largely the same as the application of ecology to all BU, no matter what the level. 

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Mimicry of this biological hierarchy can readily be seen in the abiotic hierarchy defined by GDS to reach molecules of nanoscopic proportion (see Fig. 52). 

The ability of arsenic to incorporate to the food chain and become transformed into a variety of organic forms during its pass through the biological hierarchy is known. 

The notion of organization, as a defining characteristic of life, is fundamental to all levels of the biological hierarchy (Welch, 1987). At the cellular level, it is important to comprehend how the structural organization of enzyme-catalyzed... 

The treatment of waste is the third element of the hierarchy and should be utilized only in the absence of feasible source reduction or recychng opportunities. Waste treatment involves the use of chemical, biological, or physical processes to reduce or eliminate waste material. The incineration of wastes is included in this categoiy and is considered preferable to other treatment methods (i.e., chemical, biological, and physical) because incineration can permanently destroy the hazardous components in waste materials (Ref. 4). It can also be employed to reduce the volume of waste to be treated. 

Wilkinson, R. G. (1999), Health, hierarchy, and social anxiety , in N. E. Adler, M. Marmot, B. S. McEwen and J. Stewart (Eds), Socioeconomic Status and Health in Industrial Nations Social, Psychological and Biological Pathways, Vol. 896, New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 48-63. 

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