EMERGENT PROPERTIES

All living organisms, display levels of organization. Each level combines attributes of the preceding
level with the result that it has functions and properties which become more complex. These are known as
EMERGENT PROPERTIES. From simple atoms all the way through to the biosphere, this concept is
developed. The concept also results in what is known as the Biological and Ecological Hierarchy.
Emergent Properties at the Molecular Level
Living things have different levels of organization. Smaller parts combine to make increasingly complex
systems. An emergent property is a characteristic an entity gains when it becomes part of a bigger
system. Emergent properties help living organisms better adapt to their environments and increase their
chances of survival.
Stating that you are just a collection of well-organized atoms may make you seem like a person at a party
who sucks the life and beauty out of the room, but at the lowest level of organization, the molecular level,
all living beings are made of atoms that have joined together to form large biological molecules
called macromolecules. Atoms such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen found in molecules gain
new or emergent properties when they bond together to make the proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and
nucleic acids that are macromolecules. For example, when carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen combine in a
certain way, lipids are formed. Lipids are capable of forming cell membranes that separate living cells
from the environment. Membrane formation is an emergent property not found in the molecules that
make them, and without cell membranes, life could not exist.
Emergent Properties at the Cellular Level
Macromolecules join together to form cells, life's simplest units. Each macromolecule in a cell plays a
vital role in determining how the cell functions, adapts, and survives. Nucleic acids join together to make
the chromosomes with the genes that determine an organism's characteristics, including the organism's
ability to adapt to its environment.
Emergent Properties at the Tissue Level
In multicellular organisms, cells are arranged into tissues or groups of similar cells that work together to
perform a particular function. For example, a single epithelial cell cannot form a protective layer.
However, multiple epithelial cells can form layers and other structures that provide protection to various
organs. Organisms have genes that allow them to form cells that form tissues to allow them to survive in
the environment for which they have evolved adaptations.
The four types of tissues found in animal and human cells perform different functions:
1.
Epithelial tissue forms the linings of organs
2.
Connective tissue includes cartilage, collagen, and fats and form protective padding
3.
Nervous tissue is comprised of neurons and allows the body to receive signals from the
environment
4.
Muscle tissue is comprised of cells capable of generating motion such as pumping blood or
moving the body
Emergent Properties at the Organ Level
Different types of tissues are arranged to make body parts that perform specialized functions in an
organism's body called organs. For example, your stomach contains all four types of tissue. The properties
of an organism's organs depend on the properties that emerged as a result of interactions at lower levels.
For example, the DNA in an organism's chromosomes determines how cells form tissues and how tissues
form organs.
Organs make the organ systems found in complex multicellular organisms, like human beings. Organs
such as the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestines, and large intestines are parts of the digestive
system, which breaks down food to provide energy for your body to function. The stomach cannot digest
food without the enzymes and digestive fluids the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas make. The interactions
between the organs in a system are actually controlled at the molecular level.
Emergent Properties at the Organism Level

Organ systems join together to create an organism, with all its different characteristics and capabilities.