Degradation

Degradation: Reflecting Decline in Biology

In biology, the term degradation refers to the process of deterioration or loss of functionality of organisms, biological systems, or biological components. This concept denotes a transition from more complex and organized structures to less complex, less organized or dysfunctional states.

Degradation can occur at various levels of biological organization, including the molecular, cellular, tissue and organismal levels. It can be caused by various factors such as genetic mutations, environmental exposures, pathological processes or aging.

At the molecular level, degradation can manifest itself as damage or destruction of biological molecules such as DNA, proteins or lipids. This can disrupt the normal function of cells and tissues. For example, DNA damage can lead to errors in the replication of genetic information and the occurrence of mutations, which can be associated with various diseases and aging.

At the cellular level, degradation may manifest itself in the form of decreased cellular activity, impaired mitochondrial function, or accumulation of dysfunctional organelles. This can lead to a decrease in metabolic efficiency, deterioration in the energy supply of the cell and disruption of its survival.

At the tissue level, degradation can lead to loss of tissue structural integrity and organ atrophy or degeneration. For example, as a result of muscle degradation, it may lose its strength and functionality.

At the organismal level, degradation manifests itself in the form of a general deterioration in the health of the organism or a decrease in its ability to adapt and survive in a changing environment. This may be due to aging, chronic diseases or degenerative processes.

Degradation has serious consequences for living organisms and can lead to a decrease in their viability and life expectancy. Researching and understanding the mechanisms of degradation is an important task in biology, as it can help develop strategies to prevent or slow down degradation processes and improve the health and vitality of organisms.

In conclusion, degradation in biology is the process of deterioration or loss of functionality in organisms and biological systems. It can occur at various levels of organization and has serious consequences for living organisms. Studying the mechanisms of degradation helps to better understand biological processes and develop strategies to maintain health and improve quality of life.

Degeneration - (German Degeneration from Latin degeneratio degeneration) irreversible deterioration of the structure and functions of the body under the influence of external or internal environmental factors. Depending on the causes that caused it, degeneration can be endogenous (actually D.) and exogenous (pathomorphological). Any genotype disorder can be a cause of hereditary or acquired D. Degenerative changes can be reversible - the replacement of overly or underphosphorylated amino acids catalyzed by degenerate forms of enzymes of proteolytic systems leads to an improvement in the function of a particular protein. Finally, a distinction is made between constitutional D., associated with a hereditarily altered structure of a gene or an individual gene (for example, anticystinase in phenylketonuria) and pathological D., which occurs without changes in the genome under the influence of exogenous factors. Most often, changes characteristic of D. are detected during malignant tumor transformation, both during development and after stopping malignant growth. However, similar changes are no less frequent in monoclonal lymphoproliferative diseases (Mo-L) and diffuse connective tissue diseases (DIF-DBT). Myeloma, primary hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, amyloidosis and some other diseases. The generally described universal change in the cytoskeleton, connective tissue and immune system is associated with the appearance of clones of tumor cells, which often display functionally opposite properties compared to their unaffected twin sisters. Noted universal and oligotypic (i.e. very similar to each other) clinical and morbid