Metabolism (from metavallo), the Greek word for "change"), in the most general sense, is the ingestion and breakdown of complex compounds, coupled with the liberation of energy, and the consequent generation of waste products. It is a major process of living organisms, and because this process can happen at many levels within an organism, we can identify several kinds of metabolism:
When concerning an organism in its entirety, metabolism (also called total metabolism) is all of the living organism's chemical processes. The organism's metabolism can be dichotomized into the synthesis of organic molecules (anabolism) and their breakdown (catabolism).
When concerning a particular substance, metabolism (also called specific metabolism) is the chemical activity involving this substance in a living organism. This is commonly the digestion of food, and the disposal of wastes.
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