Biology

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**Historical Contributions to Biology**:
– Ancient civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia contributed to early science.
– Key figures in ancient Greek biology include Aristotle and Theophrastus.
– Islamic scholars like al-Jahiz and Rhazes made significant contributions.
– Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope advancements led to discoveries like spermatozoa and bacteria.
– Concepts like cell theory, taxonomy by Linnaeus, and evolutionary theories by Lamarck and Darwin shaped biology.

**Chemical Basis in Biology**:
– Organisms are composed of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
– Biochemistry studies chemical processes in living organisms.
– Water, a fundamental molecule for life, acts as a solvent and facilitates reactions.
– Molecular biology delves into molecular activities within cells.
– Compounds like water are crucial for life processes.

**Cellular Biology and Metabolism**:
– Cell theory states that cells are the fundamental units of life.
– Cells arise from preexisting cells through cell division.
– Metabolism involves chemical reactions in an organism, including catabolic and anabolic reactions.
– Cellular respiration converts chemical energy into ATP.
– Photosynthesis converts sunlight into chemical energy.

**Genetics and Gene Regulation**:
– Genetics is the scientific study of inheritance.
– A gene corresponds to a region of DNA carrying genetic information.
– The process of gene expression involves transcription and translation.
– Gene regulation occurs at different stages of development and in response to environmental factors.
– Evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of populations over generations.

**Evolutionary Biology and Speciation**:
– Biologists study diverse life forms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes.
– Evolution explains the unity and diversity of life.
– Speciation is the process of one lineage splitting into two due to independent evolution.
– Darwin proposed natural selection as the mechanism for evolution.
– Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of organisms or genes.

Biology (Wikipedia)

Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary information encoded in genes, which can be transmitted to future generations. Another major theme is evolution, which explains the unity and diversity of life. Energy processing is also important to life as it allows organisms to move, grow, and reproduce. Finally, all organisms are able to regulate their own internal environments.

Biology is the science of life. It spans multiple levels from biomolecules and cells to organisms and populations.

Biologists are able to study life at multiple levels of organization, from the molecular biology of a cell to the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, and evolution of populations. Hence, there are multiple subdisciplines within biology, each defined by the nature of their research questions and the tools that they use. Like other scientists, biologists use the scientific method to make observations, pose questions, generate hypotheses, perform experiments, and form conclusions about the world around them.

Life on Earth, which emerged more than 3.7 billion years ago, is immensely diverse. Biologists have sought to study and classify the various forms of life, from prokaryotic organisms such as archaea and bacteria to eukaryotic organisms such as protists, fungi, plants, and animals. These various organisms contribute to the biodiversity of an ecosystem, where they play specialized roles in the cycling of nutrients and energy through their biophysical environment.

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