Many scientists have predicted the reverse of reductionism in biology in the past, and such interaction-based molecular research is the starting point of a holistic way.&nbsp;<br />

The most appropriate and general name of such a non-reductionist methodology of doing biology is perhaps omics. We now have enough individual objects in biology to look at the architecture of the biological information object networks.&nbsp;[[Network biology]] and [[systems biology]] are sub branches of biology where [[omics]] paradigm is applied.<br />

<p>Cell theory states that all living things are composed of one or more cells as well as the secreted products of those cells, for example, plasma, extracellular matrix, and bone. These cells arise from other cells through cell division, and that in multicellular organisms, every cell in the organism's body has been produced from the single cell in a fertilized egg.</p>

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<p>A central organizing concept in biology is that all life has a common origin and has changed and developed through the process of the theory of evolution (see Common descent). This has led to the striking similarity of units and processes discussed in the previous section. Charles Darwin established evolution as a viable theory by articulating its driving force, natural selection (Alfred Russel Wallace is recognized as the co-discoverer of this concept). Darwin theorized that species and breeds developed through the processes of natural selection as well as by artificial selection or selective breeding.Genetic drift was embraced as an additional mechanism of evolutionary development in the modern synthesis of the theory.</p>

<p>The evolutionary history of a species&mdash; which describes the characteristics of the various species from which it descended&mdash; together with its genealogical relationship to every other species is called its phylogeny. Widely varied approaches to biology generate information about phylogeny. These include the comparisons of DNA sequences conducted within molecular biology or genomics, and comparisons of fossils or other records of ancient organisms in paleontology. Biologists organize and analyze evolutionary relationships through various methods, including phylogenetics, phenetics, and cladistics (The major events in the evolution of life, as biologists currently understand them, are summarized on this evolutionary timeline).<br clear="right" />

<h3><span class="mw-headline">Gene theory</span></h3>

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Schematic representation of DNA, the primary genetic material.</div>

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<p>All terrestrial organisms use DNA and RNA-based genetic mechanisms to hold genetic information. Another universal principle is that all observed organisms with the exception of viruses are made of cells. Similarly, all organisms share common developmental processes.</p>

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<h3><span class="mw-headline">Homeostasis</span></h3>

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<h3><span class="mw-headline">Interactions of organisms</span></h3>

<p>Ecology studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both its habitat, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as climate and ecology, as well as the other the organisms that share its habitat. Ecological systems are studied at several different levels, from individuals and populations to ecosystems and the biosphere. As can be surmised, ecology is a science that draws on several disciplines.</p>

<p>Ethology studies animal behavior (particularly of social animals such as primates and canids), and is sometimes considered a branch of zoology. Ethologists have been particularly concerned with the evolution of behavior and the understanding of behavior in terms of the theory of natural selection. In one sense, the first modern ethologist was Charles Darwin, whose book &quot;The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals&quot; influenced many ethologists.</p>

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<h2><span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>

<p>Although the concept of <em><strong class="selflink">biology</strong></em> as a single coherent field arose in the 19th century, the biological sciences emerged from traditions of medicine and natural history reaching back to Galen and Aristotle in ancient Greece. During the Renaissance and early modern period, biological thought was revolutionized by a renewed interest in empiricism and the discovery of many novel organisms. Prominent in this movement were Vesalius and Harvey, who used experimentation and careful observation in physiology, and naturalists such as Linnaeus and Buffon who began to classify the diversity of life and the fossil record, as well as the development and behavior of organisms. Microscopy revealed the previously unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory. The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response to the rise of mechanical philosophy, encouraged the growth of natural history (though it entrenched the argument from design).<sup class="reference" id="_ref-3">[4]</sup></p>

<p>Over the 18th and 19th centuries, biological sciences such as botany and zoology became increasingly professional scientific disciplines. Lavoisier and other physical scientists began to connect the animate and inanimate worlds through physics and chemistry. Explorer-naturalists such as Alexander von Humboldt investigated the interaction between organisms and their environment, and the ways this relationship depends on geography&mdash;laying the foundations for biogeography, ecology and ethology. Naturalists began to reject essentialism and consider the importance of extinction and the mutability of species. Cell theory provided a new perspective on the fundamental basis of life. These developments, as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation and the rise of the germ theory of disease, though the mechanism of inheritance remained a mystery.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-4">[5]</sup></p>

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<h2><span class="mw-headline">See also</span></h2>

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<h2><span class="mw-headline">References</span></h2>

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<li id="_note-0"><strong>^</strong> <em>Biology: A Functional Approach</em> By Michael Bliss Vaughan Roberts. Cheltenham: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1986. pg. 1 </li>

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<li><a title="PhyloCode" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhyloCode">PhyloCode</a>, <a class="external free" title="http://www.ohiou.edu/phylocode/index.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ohiou.edu/phylocode/index.html">http://www.ohiou.edu/phylocode/index.html</a> </li>

<li><a class="external text" title="http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html"><em>The Tree of Life</em></a>: A multi-authored, distributed Internet project containing information about phylogeny and biodiversity. </li>