WHAT ARE THE AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF BIOLOGY? - BIOLOGY - 2025

The auxiliary sciences of biology are other disciplines that complement its development and allow it to better study living beings. This is due to the fact that knowledge is interdependent.

As biology encompasses life on earth, living beings and man, other more specialized branches have derived from it. Within the history of each knowledge, its evolution has always been accompanied by other sciences.

In fact, biology has derived anatomy, biochemistry, ecology, genetics, medicine, taxonomy and much more, which are more specific fields of study.

To understand this symbiotic relationship between the different disciplines, it is necessary to understand which are the main ones, how they are related to each other and the most relevant contributions that have derived from their interaction.

You may also be interested in the branches of biology.

The main auxiliary sciences of biology

1- Mathematics

This science encompasses everything and can be found associated with any knowledge due to its usefulness. Mathematics is used to calculate variables such as weight, volume, mass, speed, and much more.

They are essential for studies or experiments in which it is necessary to know a certain rate, proportion, percentage or statistic.

In this sense, there are branches such as biostatistics or biomathematics that are the product of this interrelation. Although they seem very dissimilar by their nature, counting, classifying and determining are concepts linked to all disciplines.

This case is no exception, and modern biology draws on much data to establish relationships, behaviors, and predictions.

2- Physics

As a science that studies natural phenomena, space, time, energy and matter, it intervenes in many other knowledge.

The relationship with biology is clear, since living beings are composed of matter, manifest energy and are subject to natural laws. That implies that gravity, force, motion, and thermodynamics are always present.

Biophysics studies how energy flows, is distributed and transformed in living beings. Likewise, life cycles and ecosystems are constantly subject to fundamental physical changes.

Physics is applied to know those interactions typical of biodiversity with the environment, the inevitable change of systems and how they are affected by the surrounding energy.

3- Chemistry

Very similar to physics, chemistry studies the processes related to matter, atoms, molecules, their structure and properties.

There are many chemical phenomena that are inherent to living beings, such as photosynthesis, homoestasis, respiration, blood circulation, among others. When reference is made to the organic component of this science, it is linked to biology.

Consequently, there are disciplines such as biochemistry that are linked to the transformations of matter, the structures of living beings and how they interact with the chemical substances that compose them.

This is evidenced in metabolism, genetic autosynthesis, enzymatic processes, digestion, nutrition, the functioning of proteins, and much more.

4- Geography

One of the bases for the theory of evolution is the geographic component between species. Location, displacement, grouping, and environmental conditions are essential for biodiversity.

All this is related to the hydrographic basins, climate classes, types of soil, periods of evolution of the Earth or the irregularities of the terrain, among other factors.

In this sense, biogeography is responsible for the distribution of living beings on the planet, its modification in relation to the habitat and the reasons for its current condition.

The data provided by this science are essential to study migration patterns, mating zones, climatic phenomena and other elements that intervene in the configuration of ecosystems.

5- History

Although this science is founded on previously less accurate facts, observations, and records, it is still essential to any discipline.

As history becomes more digitized, its records are more reliable, there is much more verified information and the data can be consulted at any time and from anywhere.

The events in time reveal how the development of knowledge has been, its advances and perspectives. Evolution, which is a historical account of life on Earth, exposes the reasons for these events.

It is a way of understanding, supporting and contrasting certain phenomena that have been recurrent and that often require factual validation.

6- Technology

In its broadest sense, biology draws on elements such as specific programs, data processing, computers for simulations, and methods directly related to this field.

It is already common for the experimental sciences to make use of all kinds of technological resources to carry out studies, experiments and confirm the theories that are raised.

In addition, it can include areas such as engineering, nanotechnology and bionics, which have given rise to genetic engineering or biotechnology, which allows the manipulation of molecular processes.

This allows the creation of transgenics, the use of nanobots, modifying cells to make them more effective, cloning organs, implementing stem cells, and much more.

7- Paleontology

The study of fossils has become the basis that has shaped the various theories about the evolution of species. There is a very close relationship between the first living beings that inhabited the planet and those that came later.

In this past are the keys to understand the successive changes that were brewing due to various circumstances.

Bones, geological periods, ice ages, and climate changes give biologists and other experts these clues to confirm or deny hypotheses.

In addition, anthropology allows to trace the origins of man, his development and evolution. There are still questions that biology and other sciences need to answer to make the pieces fit together perfectly.

8- Astrophysics

Related to outer space, planets, galaxies, cosmic events, and what happens beyond Earth, it also has serious implications for life. The origin of the universe is indivisible from everything that contains it, its formation processes and the laws that govern the stars.

Astrophysics represents an extremely important field of study because it is about finding life beyond our planet and understanding whether there are reasons to believe that human existence is the product of astronomical events.

9- Logic

The reasoning integrates all that science that seeks knowledge through concrete and precise premises. The establishment of the scientific method is common in many exact disciplines that try to solve specific problems.

In addition, this branch of philosophy is used to optimize, correct and improve the steps that are carried out to establish or disprove theories.

10- Ethics

Respect for life is an essential part of human rights and values ​​to preserve what surrounds us. Bioethics establishes the premises related to the treatment of people, animals and plants.

It is a code of conduct applied to researchers who handle techniques, technology and knowledge that should not be used to significantly alter natural processes.

11- Ethology

This science tries to decipher the causes of animal and human behavior in their different contexts. The relationship is unquestionable because it refers to the way of acting both in nature and in a domesticated environment.

This discipline is complemented by veterinary medicine, psychology and other aspects that have to do with behavior analysis.

12- Sociology

Societies represent a dynamic that is governed by cultural phenomena and their populations. This science, as an ally of biology, is responsible for establishing these relationships between individuals and their environment.

In this way, biosociology studies the grouping and formation of human and animal populations with respect to the biosphere.

13- Health Sciences

In this wide range are medicine, nursing, dentistry, nutrition, psychiatry and many more. Biology is an integral part of all of them to understand the processes, characteristics and elements of living beings.

Based on such knowledge, these disciplines are specialized fields that provide prevention, care, treatment and cure for various conditions.

14- Pharmacology

The interaction of substances in various organisms is part of this science that is also related to medicine.

From a biological point of view, it is important to know what poisons, drugs, antibiotics, among others, are in order to know their effects and how they work. This allows the creation of drugs to treat various conditions associated with benign or malignant substances.

15- Agriculture

This science uses botany to learn about the most relevant characteristics of plants and how they can be used. This science was the one that allowed in the beginning to lay the foundations for the observation of plant species, their cycles and properties.

This interrelation has created better farming methods, healthier food and more efficient harvests.

16- Graphic arts

As a culmination of this list, it is worth mentioning the influence that graphic representation has had on everything related to biology.

Whether through drawing, 2 and 3D images, or videos, this rendering is a must for understanding disciplines such as anatomy, physiology, cytology, histology, genetics, and much more.

An attempt has been made to make a compilation as comprehensive as possible, but it is also clear that with so many derived sciences, there are still many to mention. The world of knowledge is interdisciplinary par excellence, which makes it complex and fantastic at the same time.

References

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2. Zúñiga Ortiz, Yunuel (2012). Auxiliary sciences of biology. Recovered from slideshare.net.
3. Naleh, Nasif (2006). Fields of study of biology. Recovered from biocab.org.
4. Science and biology (no date). Branches of biology and auxiliary sciences. Recovered from: Cienciaybiologia.com.