WHAT IS THE FIELD OF STUDY OF BIOLOGY? - BIOLOGY - 2025

The field of study of biology is the living being. Many branches of study have been developed to better understand it. Zoology, botany, microbiology, ecology, genetics and biotechnology stand out.

There is a series of elements that all these branches have in common, in addition to the study of living beings: the recognition of the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as a hereditary unit and evolution as the starting point for new species.

It is necessary to emphasize that these branches are in charge of observing the object of study from different points of view, which generates different fields of study.

These fields focus on a certain element of living beings. It can be a general area like zoology, which studies animals; or a much more specific aspect, such as herpetology, which limits its study to reptiles.

Other fields of biology are botany, microbiology, and genetics.

All 4

1- Zoology

Zoology is the field of biology that is responsible for studying the members of the animal kingdom.

This discipline focuses on the study of all facets of animal life: embryonic development, growth, adult stage, interaction with others of the same species, relationships with organisms of different species and kingdoms, behavior and distribution, among other elements.

Because the field of zoology is quite broad, it is subdivided into a series of branches:

1- Ichthyology, which studies fish.

2- Entomology, which focuses on insects.

3- Ornithology, which studies birds.

4- The mammalogy, which studies mammals.

5- Animal physiology, which studies the processes carried out by the body, such as respiration and perspiration.

6- Animal anatomy, which studies the internal structure of animal organisms.

7- Animal histology, which studies the characteristics and properties of animal tissues.

8- Ethology, which is responsible for the study of animal behavior.

2- Botany

It is the field of biology that focuses on the study of organisms belonging to the plant kingdom.

As with zoology, botany is interested in all aspects of plant life: from its birth and development to the structures that make it up.

Some areas of study in which botany is divided are:

1- Plant histology, which is the branch of botany that is responsible for studying plant tissues (mechanical, conductive, embryonic, coating, among others).

2- Plant physiology, which is responsible for the study of the processes that occur within the plant, such as photosynthesis and respiration.

3- Plant anatomy, which studies the structures that make up plants.

4- Pure botany, which offers a theoretical approach to the study of plant organisms.

5- Applied botany, which studies the practical problems of science.

6- Agricultural botany, which is responsible for perfecting agriculture through the study of crops and the conditions in which they develop.

7- Floriculture, an auxiliary discipline of agricultural botany that is responsible for improving the aesthetic properties of crops for economic purposes.

8- Phytopathology, which focuses on the study of diseases suffered by plants, especially those that are economically important.

3- Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, some fungi, among others.

Some branches of this discipline are bacteriology and mycology.

4- Genetics

Genetics is the field of biology that studies the hereditary material present in living beings.

Its object of study is the gene, which is responsible for transmitting the information contained in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

Interdisciplinary fields of biology

Many fields of biology involve the participation of other areas of study. For this reason, they constitute interdisciplinary areas.

Some of these are ecology, biochemistry, and biotechnology.

Ecology

It is the field of biology that is responsible for the study of the interaction between living things and the environment in which they develop.

Because it studies the biotic and abiotic factors of an ecosystem, ecology represents a fusion between biology, chemistry, physics, and geology.

This field of biology studies living beings at different levels of organization: as individuals, as populations (groups of individuals of the same species) and as communities (a set of populations of different species).

When a community is studied within the physical space in which it develops, then we speak of an ecosystem.

If the ecosystem occupies a large territory, it is a biome. The set of biomes present on planet Earth constitutes the biosphere.

Biochemistry

Biochemistry is an interdisciplinary field that takes aspects of biology and chemistry. This discipline is based on the study of living things at the molecular level.

This means that it focuses on the chemical reactions that sustain the existence of life.

Biochemistry studies both simple molecules, such as carbohydrates and lipids, up to the most complex molecules, such as hormones, proteins, DNA and RNA.

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is the field of biology that uses technological advances as a means of generating innovative and more profitable products. This discipline interacts with chemistry, genetics and microbiology, among other sciences.

References

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