What Is Biology?

The B biology Studies life as an energy state, of all living beings, their interrelationships and their relations with the environment that surrounds them.

A biologist Studies the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and distribution of living organisms.

Modern biology is a vast and eclectic science, composed of multiple sub-disciplines. However, in spite of its wide spectrum, there are certain unifying concepts within this science that allows to group all these disciplines within the same subject of study in a coherent way (Paul, 2002).

In general, biology recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as the essential units for heredity, and evolution as the engine that propels the creation of new species.

In the same way, he understands that all living organisms survive by consuming and transforming energy, with the aim of regulating their internal mechanism and staying stable within the vital condition called homeostasis.

Brief historical review of the study of biology

Early humans had to study the animals they hunted and were to identify where to find the plants they collected for their food. That is the basic practice of biology.

The Greeks laid the foundations of zoology, botany and medicine. Then Da Vinci ventured with the anatomy and later appeared The first illustrated books of biology, highlighting a brief from German Leonhart Fuchs In 1542 on botany.

Natural sciences were at the center of scientific debate and curiosity during the Victorian era and in the nineteenth century. Not in vain, it was close to that time that appeared The Origin of the Species of Charles Darwin, and in 1900 appeared the Works by Mendel On genetics.

Already the twentieth and twenty-first century, they gave way to DNA study And the possibilities offered by the combination of biology and technology.

The modern trend toward interdisciplinarity has allowed Knowledge of other fields Chemistry, medicine and physics, for example, with those of biology in areas such as biochemistry, biomedicine and biophysics.

In these times, the social effect of the work of biologists in society has been exposed to extremes that have forced them to redefine their social obligations and functions, particularly in matters that lead to ethical dilemmas such as human control of the environment or manipulation Of genes to direct evolutionary development.

Maybe you might be interested The timeline of biology: the most important discoveries .

Bases of biology

The branches of biology arise from five premises about living things:

1. Cell theory: with three fundamental approaches: the cell is the basic unit of life, all living beings are composed of cells and all cells originate from pre-existing cells.
2. Energy: all living things require energy, and it flows in all living beings and their environment.
3. Inheritance: All living things have DNA codes.
4. Equilibrium: all living things must maintain the Homeostasis Or the state of equilibrium with its surroundings.
5. Evolution: this is the engine of biological diversity.

Biological principles

• Homeostasis: principle according to which living beings maintain a constant internal environment.
• Unity: implies that all living organisms, regardless of their singularity, have certain biological, chemical and physical characteristics in common.
• Evolution: the ability of organisms to adapt to the conditions of their environment and is a biological phenomenon common to all living things, which is confirmed in the study of fossils.
• Diversity: it implies that there is a diversity of life between species and within each natural population.
• Continuity: this principle implies that life comes only from the preexisting, that is, it is only through reproduction that successive generations can exist.

Fields of study of biology

In that sense, the following could be mentioned: Fields of study

• Anatomy: tries to describe the structure of the organism, its external and internal appearance, the organization of its organs and the links between them, etc.
• Biophysics: studies the positions and flow of energy in organisms; That is, how energy flows into, distributes, and transforms into living beings.
• Cell biology: as the name implies, it studies the properties, structure and functions of cells.
• Molecular Biology: studies the vital processes of living beings depending on the characteristics of their molecular structure.
• Biochemistry: studies the molecular structure of living beings, as well as processes involving transformations of matter.
• Botany: studies the structure, characteristics, properties and relationships of vegetables.
• Ecology: studies the interactions between living beings and their environment.
• Embryology: studies the development of animals and plants, from their germinal stage until their birth as complete individuals. It is also known as Developmental Biology.
• Ethology: studies the behavior of living beings that have a central nervous system cefalizado, even investigating the genetic and environmental origin of such behavior. This science is also known as Psychobiology, Biopsychology or Behavioral Biology.
• Evolutionary biology: studies all the changes that have originated terrestrial biodiversity.
• Physiology: studies the functions of living beings; How each organ works, how they self-regulate and how they affect the functions of one organ and organize it to the rest of them.
• Genetics: study inheritance.
• Immunology: is responsible for studying the defensive reactions displayed by organisms against any external and internal agent.
• Medicine: studies the methods and remedies by means of which the diseased organisms can recover the health.
• Mycology: studies fungi, pathogens or non-pathogens.
• Microbiology: study of microorganisms, both innocuous and pathogenic.
• Paleontology: studies the living beings that existed in prehistoric times.
• Protozoology: studies protozoa, algae and micetozoids.
• Sociology: studies the formation and behavior of societies and the links between different societies of organisms (human or not).
• Taxonomy: consists in the organization and classification of living beings and viruses.
• Virology: is a branch of biology is dedicated to the study of viruses.
• Zoology: study of animals.

From the list we are going to highlight some of the most powerful fields within this science:

Cell theory

The cell theory indicates that the cell is the fundamental unit of life and all the living elements are composed of one or more cells whose number can increase thanks to the process of cell division.

In multicellular organisms, each cell in the body is derived from a stem cell in the ovum that was fertilized during the reproductive process of parental generation.

The cell is also considered the basic unit in many pathological processes. In addition, the phenomenon of energy movement occurs in cells during the metabolic process. Finally, the cells contain hereditary information (DNA), which passes from one cell to another during the division process (Solomon & Linda Berg, 2004).

Genetics

The second key concept that studies biology is genetics. Genes are the primary units within the inheritance of all organisms. A gene is a hereditary unit that corresponds to a region of DNA and influences the form and function of an organism in a specific way.

All organisms, from bacteria to animals, share the same mechanism of DNA copy and inheritance through proteins and a process of acid transfer and translation of genetic codes (Mayr, 1997).

Evolution

The third key concept that studies biology is evolution. In this way, one of the central beliefs of biology is that all forms of life in the world have a common origin.

The theory of evolution postulates that all organisms that have inhabited the earth, both those that are already extinct and those that still live, are descended from a common ancestor or a set of ancestral genes.

It is believed that this common ancestor of all organisms appeared about 3.5 billion years ago. Biologists recognize the ubiquity of this genetic code as definitive evidence in favor of the theory of a universal ancestor that gave rise to all bacteria, archaea and eukaryotic cells.

Charles Darwin was in charge of proposing a scientific model of natural selection as the definitive force that drives evolution. In this way, this theory is currently used to explain the existence of the different types of living beings that inhabit the planet.

The theory of evolution is relevant to biology as it allows you to understand the natural history of all life forms. Therefore, evolution is central in all fields of biology (UF, 2017).

Homeostasis

Homeostasis in the ability of an open system to regulate its internal processes in order to maintain stable conditions, in this way is performing multiple equilibrium processes and adjustments controlled and regulated by internal mechanisms. All living organisms, both unicellular and multicellular, perform this process.

The process of homeostasis takes place when an organism is disturbed in some way, in this way it responds by self-regulating and stabilizing its conditions. An example of this is the release of glucose when blood sugar levels are low.

Physiology

Physiology is the study of the physical, mechanical and biomechanical processes of living organisms as complete units.

The study of functional structures is central to biology. Physiological studies have traditionally been divided between the kingdom of plants and animals. However, some principles of physiology are universal, regardless of the type of organism they study.

This subdiscipline of biology studies the interaction of the different systems that are present within the same organism.

Anatomy

Anatomy is the sub-discipline of biology that studies the structure of physical form organisms, ie, how they are made. Therefore, it reviews its external appearance, composition, organization of organs and systems, and the links that exist between them. You can study unicellular and multicellular organisms alike.

Immunology

Immunology is a branch of biology that studies the immune system of all living organisms. In this way, he studies the reaction of all organisms when an external agent attacks them.

For this reason, knowledge derived from immunology can be applied to multiple medical disciplines, particularly related to organ transplantation, oncology, virology, bacteriology, parasitology, psychiatry and dermatology.

Microbiology

The branch of microbiology is responsible for studying microorganisms. In this way, it analyzes bacteria, protozoa and fungi. Because viruses are not considered microorganisms, viruses are studied independently by virology, since microbiology only deals with innocuous and pathogenic organisms.

In short, the study of something as broad as life, which is what biology studies have allowed:

• Explain the changes of bodies.
• Train different careers (biotechnology, forensic science, biomedical, pharmaceutical, etc.).
• Respond to large-scale problems.
• Teach basic concepts about life.
• Answer the fundamental questions about life.
• Open the way to scientific research.

References

1. Bagley, Mary Live (2014). What is Biology? Retrieved from livescience.com.
2. Bioexplorer (2017). 6 Reasons That Emphasizes The Importance Of Biology. Retrieved from: bioexplorer.net.
3. Nahle, Nasif (2006). Fields of study of biology. Retrieved from: biocab.org.
4. Rogers, Kara and others (2015). Retrieved from: britannica.com.
5. Tucker, Laura (2014). What Can You Do With a Biology Degree? Retrieved from: topuniversities.com.