An Introduction to Metabolism Chapter 8 Overview: The Energy of Life The living cell is a miniature chemical factory where thousands of reactions occur The cell extracts energy and applies energy to perform work Some organisms even convert energy to light, as in bioluminescence ? 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 8.1 Concept 8.1: An organism?s metabolism transforms matter and energy, subject to the laws of thermodynamics Metabolism is the totality of an organism?s chemical reactions Metabolism is an emergent property of life that arises from interactions between molecules within the cell ? 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Organization of the Chemistry of Life into Metabolic Pathways A metabolic pathway begins with a specific molecule and ends with a product