The life sciences comprise the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms – such as microorganisms, plants, animals, and human beings – as well as related considerations like bioethics. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of specializations and interdisciplinary fields.[1]
Some life sciences focus on a specific type of life. For example, zoology is the study of animals, while botany is the study of plants. Other life sciences focus on aspects common to all or many life forms, such as anatomy and genetics. Yet other fields are interested in technological advances involving living things, such as bio-engineering. Another major, though more specific, branch of life sciences involves understanding the mind – neuroscience.
The life sciences are helpful in improving the quality and standard of life. They have applications in health, agriculture, medicine, and the pharmaceutical and food science industries.
There is considerable overlap between many of the topics of study in the life sciences.
Topics of study
Affective neuroscience
Affective neuroscience is the study of the neural mechanisms of emotion. This interdisciplinary field combines neuroscience with the psychological study of personality, emotion, and mood.
Anatomy
Anatomy is the study of the body plan of animals, divided into gross (or macroscopic) anatomy and microscopic anatomy including histology (the study of tissues) and cytology (the study of cells), and with facets including comparative anatomy and comparative embryology. Human anatomy is important in medicine. The history of anatomy shows rising understanding of the organs and structures of the human body, and improving methods from dissection of cadavers to X-ray, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging.
Astrobiology
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe: extraterrestrial life and life on Earth, and the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for prebiotic chemistry, and research into the origins of life. Astrobiology makes use of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, molecular biology, ecology, planetary science, geography, and geology.
Biochemistry
Biochemistry is the study of chemical processes in the cells of living organisms. By controlling information flow through biochemical signaling and the flow of chemical energy through metabolism, these processes give rise to the complexity of life. Closely related to molecular biology, it contributes to life sciences from botany to medicine. It deals with macromolecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids, as well as smaller molecules such as amino acids.
Biocomputers
Biocomputers use systems of biologically derived molecules, such as DNA and proteins, to perform computational calculations involving storing, retrieving, and processing data. The development of biocomputers has been made possible by the expanding new science of nanobiotechnology.
Biocontrol
Biological control (known as biological control) is a bioeffector-method of controlling pests (including insects, mites, weeds and plant diseases) using other living organisms.
Biodynamics
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming originally developed by Rudolf Steiner that employs what proponents describe as "a holistic understanding of agricultural processes". One of the first sustainable agriculture movements,
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary scientific field that develops methods for storing, retrieving, organizing and analyzing biological data. A major activity in bioinformatics is to develop software tools to generate useful biological knowledge.
Biology
Biology is the parent natural science of all the life sciences. It involves the study of all aspects of organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy, with many branches and subdisciplines. It recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as the basic unit of heredity, and evolution as the engine that propels the synthesis and creation of new species. All organisms survive by consuming and transforming energy and by regulating their internal environment.
Biomaterials
A biomaterial is any matter, surface, or construct that interacts with biological systems. As a science, biomaterials is about fifty years old. The study of biomaterials is called biomaterials science. It has experienced steady and strong growth over its history, with many companies investing large amounts of money into the development of new products. Biomaterials science encompasses elements of medicine, biology, chemistry, tissue engineering and materials science.
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems such as humans, animals, plants, organs, and cells by means of the methods of mechanics.
Biomedical science
Healthcare science, also known as biomedical science, is a set of applied sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbiology, clinical virology, clinical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, and biomedical engineering are medical sciences. Explaining physiological mechanisms operating in pathological processes, however, pathophysiology can be regarded as basic science.
Biomedicine
Biomedicine, or Medical biology, is a branch of medical science that applies biological and other natural-science principles to clinical practice. Biomedicine is related to the ability of humans to cope with environmental stress. The branch especially applies to biology and physiology. Biomedicine also can relate to many other categories in health and biological related fields.
Biomonitoring
In analytical chemistry, biomonitoring is the measurement of the body burden of toxic chemical compounds, elements, or their metabolites, in biological substances. Often, these measurements are done in blood and urine.
The two best established biomonitoring programs in representative samples of the general population are those of the United States and Germany, although population-based programs exist in a few other countries. In 2001, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began to publish its biennial National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, which reports a statistically representative sample of the U.S. population. The Environmental Working Group has also conducted biomonitoring studies.
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science using methods of, and theories from, physics to study biological systems. Biophysics spans all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems. Biophysical research shares significant overlap with biochemistry, nanotechnology,bioengineering, agrophysics, and systems biology. It has been suggested as a bridge between biology and physics.
Biopolymers
Biopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms; in other words, they are polymeric biomolecules. Since they are polymers, biopolymers containmonomeric units that are covalently bonded to form larger structures. There are three main classes of biopolymers, classified according to the monomeric units used and the structure of the biopolymer formed: polynucleotides (RNA and DNA), which are long polymers composed of 13 or more nucleotide monomers;polypeptides, which are short polymers of amino acids; and polysaccharides, which are often linear bonded polymeric carbohydrate structures.
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use" (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Art. 2). Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the (related) fields of bioengineering and biomedical engineering.
For thousands of years, humankind has used biotechnology in agriculture, food production, and medicine. The term itself is largely believed to have been coined in 1919 by Hungarian engineer Károly Ereky. In the late 20th and early 21st century, biotechnology has expanded to include new and diverse sciences such as genomics, recombinant gene technologies, applied immunology, and development of pharmaceutical therapies and diagnostic tests.
Botany
Botany is the science of plant life. It includes the study of fungi and algae, studied by mycologists and phycologists respectively, as well as true plants. Botany originated as herbalism with the efforts of early humans to identify and grow edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, making it one of the oldest branches of science. Medieval physic gardens and later botanical gardens supported early work in plant taxonomy. Botany includes plant morphology, growth, reproduction,biochemistry and primary metabolism, chemical products, development, diseases, evolutionary relationships and classification. and more recently molecular genetics and epigenetics. Botanical research helps to develop staple foods and textiles, horticulture, agriculture and forestry, plant propagation, breeding and genetic modification, the synthesis of chemicals and raw materials for construction and energy production, environmental management, and the maintenance of biodiversity.
Cell biology
Cell biology studies cells – their physiology, structure, organelles, interactions, life cycle, division and death, both on a microscopic and molecular level. Research encompasses the diversity of single-celled organisms like bacteria and protozoa, and specialized cells in multicellular organisms such as humans,plants, and sponges. Cell biology is fundamental to all biological sciences, especially molecular biology cancer research, and developmental biology.
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain. Cognitive neuroscience is a branch of both psychology and neuroscience, overlapping with disciplines such as physiological psychology, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. Cognitive neuroscience relies upon theories in cognitive science coupled with evidence from neuropsychology, and computational modeling.
Due to its multidisciplinary nature, cognitive neuroscientists may have various backgrounds. Other than the associated disciplines just mentioned, cognitive neuroscientists may have backgrounds in these disciplines: neurobiology, bioengineering, psychiatry, neurology, physics, computer science, linguistics, philosophy and mathematics.
Methods employed in cognitive neuroscience include experimental paradigms from psychophysics and cognitive psychology, functional neuroimaging, electrophysiology, cognitive genomics and behavioral genetics. Studies of patients with cognitive deficits due to brain lesions constitute an important aspect of cognitive neuroscience (see neuropsychology). Theoretical approaches include computational neuroscience and cognitive psychology.
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