The vastness of biology

 

From the time DPI had expressed its biased attitude towards biology; the entire biology has become a controversial subject. Let’s understand biology, its various branches, and its importance through this blog. In fact, we will be looking at the vastness of biology with a view of full consciousness with this blog.

The term "biology" in its modern sense appears to have been introduced independently by Thomas Beddoes (in 1799), Karl Friedrich Burdach (in 1800), Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (1802), and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (Hydrogéologie, 1802). In a broad sense, Biology means the science of life or living matter in all its forms and phenomena, especially regarding origin, growth, reproduction, structure, and behavior. Forms of life can be from one-celled (unicellular) organisms to many-celled (multicellular) organisms.

Biology is the vision of the whole of life. The wide difference in the types of organisms calls for a thorough understanding of the vastness of this subject. This is mandatory for those who are contented in themselves with scanty information of what is going on unconsciously in their mind. Biology is more grandiose than any other branch of science. The vastness is up there, where one can stretch his imagination. It is to be remembered that even with this vastness there are coherent fields like microbiology, biochemistry, and biotechnology, which unify various sections and subsections of biology

Only, by Harnessing the Vastness of the biology, perils of agents like Corona can be combated. Before delving deep into the relation of Corona with other branches of biology, let us first look into some major branches of biology 

By the 18th and 19th centuries Botany, Zoology, and Geology replaced the pre-existing Natural history but soon due to further developments, these were accompanied by more branches of biology; some of which unifies various sections and sub-sections of biology.

All the fundamental principles of life are gathered into separate branches for the convenience of study. Some of the basic concepts of biology are homeostasis, cell, evolution, diversity, behavior, and interrelationships, continuity of life, structural, constitution and composition, and hierarchical levels. Let us review some branches of biology in a very concise manner. Subdivisions are defined on the scale at which organisms are being studied.

1. Biochemistry: Biochemistry is the branch of biology concerned with the chemical and physicochemical processes that occur within living organisms. 

2. Biophysics: Biophysics is the science of the application of the laws of physics to biological phenomena 

3. Biotechnology: Biotechnology is the exploitation of biological processes such as genetic manipulation of micro-organisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc. 

4. Botany: Botany is the scientific study of plants, including their physiology, structure, genetics, and ecology. 

5. Cytology: Cytology or Cell biology is the study of cell structure and function, and it revolves around the concept that the cell is the fundamental unit of life. 

6. Ecology: Ecology is the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. 

7. Evolution: Evolution is the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth (Darwinism). 

8. Genetics: Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in living organisms. 

9. Immunology: Immunology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with immunity. 

10. Microbiology & parasitology: Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms, those being unicellular, multicellular, or acellular and all biological processes at the micro-level. It also deals with the exploitation of micro-organisms for the benefit of mankind; Parasitology is the branch of biology or medicine concerned with the study of parasitic organisms, their economic importance, and role in the ecology

12. Molecular biology: Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the structure and function of the proteins and nucleic acids- these carry out the biological processes essential for cell's function and maintenance. 

14. Photobiology: Photobiology is the scientific study of the interactions of light and living organisms. 

15. Phycology & Mycology: Phycology is the scientific study of algae and Mycology is the scientific study of fungi 

16. Physiology: Concerned with the functioning, or metabolism of Plants, Animals, and Microbes 

17. Radiobiology: Radiobiology is a branch of biology that involves the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living things. 

18. Structural biology- Structural biology is a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics dealing with the molecular structure of biological macromolecules. 

19. Virology: Virology is the branch of science that deals with the study of viruses 

20. Zoology: Zoology is the scientific study of the behavior, structure, physiology, classification, and distribution of animals. 

21. Theoretical biology: Theoretical biology (aka mathematical biology) is an interdisciplinary scientific research field with a range of applications in biology, esp. microbiology, biotechnology, and medicine. 

It is self-evident from the above break-up that biochemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, zoology, and botany form an integral part of some but all the studies. Thus these are termed as the major branches whereas others are minor or sub-branches of biology.  However, the branches of biology do not limit here,  there are a plethora of branches like environmental biology, marine biology, bioinformatics, and so on, and so forth which in lieu of the vastness of biology is beyond the limit of this blog. 

Importance of Modern biology in the present context 

Modern biology is vast with no bound; it is an epitome of research and discoveries. It has so many branches and is so illimitable that there are numerous divisions and subdivisions of this scientific stream. Even with this vastness, there are coherent fields like microbiology, biochemistry, and biotechnology, which unify various sections and subsections of biology 

In the context of Microbiology, we can say that the prodigious smallness is also vast. The vast menagerie of microbes ranges from acellular prions to the unicellular fungi. Recent nuisance caused by the coronavirus can be addressed only by the knowledge of microbiology, virology, immunology, and biotechnology Novel coronavirus is an uninvited guest in the world of vast microbiology. 

Scientists (a team of microbiologists) have developed a new low-cost nasal swab test that can accurately diagnose the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 in just 20 minutes. The findings, published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, show the test called N1-STOP-LAMP is 100 percent accurate in diagnosing samples containing SARS-CoV-2 at high loads. The rapid molecular test is highly accurate and easy to use, making it a prime candidate for use in settings with limited testing capabilities. (https://microbiologysociety.org/news/press-releases/a-new-20-minute-assay-for-covid-19-diagnosis.html)

Bharat Biotech is developing India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine; COVAXIN in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) high containment facility. (https://www.bharatbiotech.com/covaxin.html) 

Jaclyn Winter and Shiladitya DasSarma demonstrated how they harness the unique biology of extremophiles for the discovery and development of new therapeutics. (https://www.the-scientist.com/sponsored-webinars/extremophile-biology-67801) 

These are just a few examples of the contribution of Micro/ Biotech/ Immunology/ Virology and Biochemistry in the present year. In the modern era (2020), the experimental work has replaced natural history as the dominant mode of research which makes zoology and botany obsolete (though their importance remains in the basic understanding of biology) 

Several universities have designed their courses in such a way that one can get the flair of all the branches. For eg., a course in Microbiology (M.Sc Micro) does not necessarily mean that the scholar will study only Microbiology by definition but also virology, phycology, mycology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Cytology, Ecology, Bio-statistics, genetics, molecular biology, and others, thus in every respect, he is a biologist. Due to its vastness, no university offers a course in biology. The course is named in such a way that one of the branches is major i.e. the named one and the other branches complement it.

For me, life has always been something striking and amazing. It is all about how we perceive things. Something is not big if there is something small and vice versa. Thus, all branches of biology are equally important and deserve equal weightage in each career, whether it is of a teacher or a researcher.