Open main menu

Opengenome.net β

Changes

Biology

472 bytes added, 18:40, 29 November 2007
no edit summary
<p><strong><font size="3">Biology</font></strong> (from Greek: &beta;ί&omicron;&sigmaf;, <em>bio</em>, &quot;life&quot;; and &lambda;ό&gamma;&omicron;&sigmaf;, <em>logos</em>, &quot;knowledge&quot;) is the study of life.&nbsp;<br />
Biology is an information science that is close to computer science and mathematics. &nbsp;Biologists collect information through experiments on how molecules pass signals and regulate genetic elements through feedback systems.&nbsp;<br />The outcomes are usually databases and new gene markers and drug targets. The purpose of biology is to understand life in terms of how they process information in the physical world. The major application of biology is medicine. Therefore, biology is sometimes called the basic sience of medicine.<br /><br />The early 2000s was at the point where the conventional views of molecular biology changed rapidly with new views. One of them is the transition from the object-oriented understanding of biology to an interaction-oriented understanding.&nbsp;<br />
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>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline">[[Evolution]]</span></h3>
<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" />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline">Homeostasis</span></h3>
<p>[[Homeostasis ]] is the ability of an open system to regulate its internal environment to maintain a stable condition by means of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms. All living organisms, whether unicellular or multicellular, exhibit homeostasis. Homeostasis manifests itself at the cellular level through the maintenance of a stable internal acidity (pH); at the organismic level, warm-blooded animals maintain a constant internal body temperature; and at the level of the ecosystem, as when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise and plants are theoretically able to grow healthier and remove more of the gas from the atmosphere. Tissues and organs can also maintain homeostasis.</p>
<p><br />
</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline">References</span></h2>
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count: 2">
<ol class="references">
<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>