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Dr. Saltman begins the series by asking what is perhaps the most fundamental question in a study of biochemistry: what makes something alive and something else dead? This is a question which has puzzled and invited scientist and philosophers throughout history. Thanks to the development of increasingly powerful microscopes, the cell, which is the basic element of living matter, can be analyzed and studied in its three functions: reproduction, mutation, and the carrying on of metabolism. The program ends with comparisons of an amoeba and a mammal, and algae and the giant sequoia tree.
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