Biology studies life and is divided into three categories: zoology, botany, and microbiology. It also includes specialized sub-disciplines such as biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics. The foundations of modern biology are cell theory, evolution, gene theory, and homeostasis. Recent developments include genomics and synthetic biology.
Biology is, simply, the scientific exploration and study of life. At the highest level, it includes categories based on the type of organism being studied: zoology, botany, and microbiology. Each field has contributed to humanity in numerous ways, such as improvements in agriculture, greater understanding of livestock and ecological systems, and the study of disease. Modern biological studies largely focus on the concepts of cell theory, evolution, gene theory, and homeostasis.
Three main categories
There are three major categories of study within biology, each relating to a different type of life form. Zoology is the study of animals and includes just about everything from insects and fish to birds and humans. Botany, on the other hand, focuses on plants of all types and sizes, including underwater forests, fungi, and trees. Microbiology is the study of microorganisms that are too small to be seen clearly and that defy categorization in the other two fields, such as viruses.
Other subcategories
In addition to classifications based on the type of organism being studied, biology contains many other specialized sub-disciplines, which may focus on just one type of organism or consider life from several categories. This includes biochemistry, which combines biological and chemical studies, and molecular biology, which examines life at the molecular level. Cell biology studies the different types of cells and how they function, while physiology examines organisms at the level of tissues and organs. Experts in ecology study the interactions between various organisms themselves within an environment, and those in ethology study the behavior of animals, especially complex animals in groups. Genetics, which overlaps somewhat with molecular studies, examines the code of life, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Four Main Foundations of Study
The foundations of modern biology include four components starting with the cell theory, which states that fundamental units called cells make up all life. Evolution is the theory that life is not designed deliberately, but evolves incrementally over a large amount of time through random mutations and natural selection. The gene theory states that tiny molecular sequences of DNA dictate the entire structure of an organism, which is passed from parents to offspring. Finally, homeostasis is the idea that every organism’s body includes a complex series of processes designed to remain in harmony and preserve it from entropic or destructive effects outside the organism.
20th century developments
Much of the modern approach to biology began with the use of X-ray crystallography in the 1950s to capture a concrete picture of DNA. Since then, there have been numerous refinements to advanced theories, as life is complex and new information is being discovered almost constantly. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, great excitement was centered around the sequencing of genomes and their comparison, called genomics. These advances led to the creation of living organisms or tissues through custom written DNA programming, called synthetic biology. Such fields are sure to continue to attract attention as new developments push the limits of what is possible.
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