M - movementmovement is required in any organism to allow it to access the environment and sources of energyR - respirationenergy producing processes underlie metabolism in the organism required for chemical reactions to take placeS - sensitivitythe organism must be sensitive to changes in its environment so it can respond appropriatelyG - growththis can be macroscopic in terms of overall size (think foetus to adult) or hypertrophy and division of individual cells at a microscopic levelR - reproductionthe organism must be capable of producing offspringE - excretiontoxic waste chemicals, often the product of metabolism, must be removed from the system to prevent damageN - nutritionintake of substrates for these processes is required , otherwise the organism will die