Biochemistry Biochemistry is the study of
chemical processes within and relating to living
organisms.
Molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells. It is centered largely on the study of
nucleic acids (such as
DNA and
RNA) and
proteins. It examines the structure, function, and interactions of these
macromolecules as they orchestrate processes such as
replication,
transcription,
translation,
protein synthesis, and complex
biomolecular interactions. In 1953, the
Miller–Urey experiment showed that organic compounds could be synthesized abiotically within a closed system mimicking the conditions of
early Earth, thus suggesting that complex organic molecules could have arisen spontaneously in early Earth in the process of
abiogenesis.
Cell biology Cell biology is the branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behaviour of
cells.
Bioenergetics is a field in
biochemistry and cell biology that concerns
energy flow through living systems. This is an active area of
biological research that includes the study of the transformation of energy in living organisms and the study of thousands of different
cellular processes such as
cellular respiration and other
metabolic and
enzymatic processes that enable the use of energy.
Genetics depicting a cross between two pea plants heterozygous for purple (B) and white (b) blossoms
Genetics is the scientific study of inheritance.
Classical genetics, specifically, is the study of how genes and traits are passed on from parents to offspring; its principles are called
Mendelian inheritance.
Evolutionary developmental biology Evolutionary developmental biology compares the
developmental processes of different
organisms to infer how developmental processes evolved. The field grew from 19th-century beginnings, where
embryology faced a mystery:
zoologists did not know how
embryonic development was controlled at the molecular level.
Charles Darwin noted that having similar embryos implied common ancestry, but little progress was made until the 1970s. Then,
recombinant DNA technology at last brought embryology together with
molecular genetics. A key early discovery was that of
homeotic genes that regulate development in a wide range of
eukaryotes. The field explores
deep homology, the finding that dissimilar organs such as the eyes of
insects,
vertebrates and
cephalopod molluscs, long thought to have evolved separately, are controlled by similar genes from the
evo-devo gene toolkit.
Evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is a subfield of biology that analyzes the mechanisms of
evolution. Evolution accounts for the unity and
diversity of life on Earth;
Theodosius Dobzhansky famously said "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution".
Population genetics for example studies how genetic variation develops, how it is inherited, and how the evolutionary mechanisms shape a population's genetic composition. Research in evolutionary biology covers many topics and incorporates ideas from diverse areas, such as
molecular genetics and
mathematical and theoretical biology. Some fields of evolutionary research try to explain phenomena that were poorly accounted for in the modern evolutionary synthesis. These include
speciation, the
evolution of sexual reproduction, the evolution of
cooperation, the
evolution of ageing, and
evolvability.
Ecology Ecology is the study of the distribution and abundance of life, the interaction between organisms and their
environment.
Systematics, phylogenetics, and taxonomy Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as
evolutionary trees, studied using
phylogenetics, and creating a unified
taxonomy of life.
Conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of Earth's
biodiversity with the aim of protecting
species, their
habitats, and
ecosystems from excessive rates of
extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is concerned with factors that influence the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biodiversity and the science of sustaining evolutionary processes that engender
genetic, population,
species, and ecosystem diversity. The concern stems from estimates suggesting that up to 50% of all species on the planet will disappear within the next 50 years, which has contributed to poverty, starvation, and will reset the course of evolution on this planet. Conservation biologists research the trends of
biodiversity loss, species
extinctions, and the negative effect these are having on our capabilities to
sustain the well-being of human society. ==See also==