biology essay examples

biology essay examples

Exploring the Role of Biology in Modern Society: A Collection of Essays

1. Introduction to the Importance of Biology in Various Fields

These reasons and various evolutionary, ecological, medical, and behavioral ones may help explain that it is an era in which conformance to prevailing mores is also due to specific socioeconomic consideration – a period in the moral conscience of science.” In the past decade, the emphasis in animal models, illustrative data, and page space has been a consequence, I believe, of the neglect of the biology of populations, species, and ecosystems or its amateurish treatment with words and concepts whose meanings and connections to biology are not deserving of our professional skill.” To be responsive to his transforming needs, the following are equal requisites for more effective contributions of biology to global environment concerns: the reintegration of both social concerns and economic prospects into the common denominator of the biology of the environment and a rapprochement among the intellectual endeavors – from news editor and museum curator to industrial forester, federal agency biologist, and university professor – to reconstruct careers with professional relevance to these concerns.”

Concern for the unprecedented level of environmental deterioration that is a pervasive aspect of the contemporary world is particularly based on the observed changes – deforestation, desertification, depletion of oceans and soils, extinction of species, waste disposal, and pollution – at global rather than local scales and at rates rather than absolute levels. Thus, the dynamic interrelationship among large and increasing human and livestock populations, ever-expanding economic processes, new technologies, and complex ecosystems seems to carry the global environment beyond usual threshold levels of degradation and periods of recuperation. An important conclusion from these considerations is the urgency of rational interventions because the restoration of predegraded environmental conditions seems probable for only a limited number of small area and low population habitats both on land and in the sea. Auxiliary arguments for rational interventions are that predictions about the global environment are embedded in a multitude of uncertainties and will – in the absence of such interventions – be increasingly difficult as responsiveness to adjustments becomes delayed or nonrecoverable thresholds become crossed. Moreover, ecosystem restorations typically are ambiguous because so many intangible, ethical, moral, and cultural factors interact with impersonal economic considerations. Finally, by their very nature, conservation and preservation easily can become targets of ridicule from climatological, epidemiological, or astronomical considerations concerned with the likely catastrophic regimes that alternate between periods of cold and hot earth.”

2. The Impact of Biotechnology on Agriculture and Food Security

Agriculture is at the base of modern civilization. Hence, any benefit that results from modern biology or biotechnology clearly impacts greatly on human society. Time may dim vivid memories of the summer of 2000 when weather and disease factors caused unfortunate fluctuations in the European grain harvest—good in the north but very bad in the south. Despite all efforts, a repeated bad harvest could not be avoided with the result that food prices increased. Such fluctuations cause unrest and political instability. The consequence of this year’s poor harvest was highly predictable. Within scientific families, one hears repeatedly how agriculture advances with traditional plant grafts hand-pollinated a century ago. These people know very well that the coastal varieties that are affected either do not tolerate high humidity, or lack resistance to brown rust, or lack resistance to black rust. In order to reduce such fluctuations, plant breeding is obliged to make advances, that is, to always generate new, better plants.

One of the best ways to address societal issues is to search for appropriate scientific and technological solutions. This is particularly relevant for biotechnology, a field that is revolutionizing agriculture and will enable millions of small family farmers in developing countries to produce more good food. Several plant biotechnologies are opening up a whole new range of possibilities. These technologies enhance classical plant breeding based on the transfer of genes among plant species. Genetic engineering explains the importance of biology in providing solutions to societal challenges.

3. Biological Discoveries and Their Influence on Medicine and Healthcare

Of the 1.8% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) that we expense for healthcare, a substantial fraction is targeted to extending lifespan and the quality of life for the elderly. U.S. longevity, like progress in industry, has benefited from an amazing combination of medical technology, new or reinstituted social practices, and economic opportunity, which work together to produce unexpected and uncontemplated trends. One may ask, in a general sense, whether biological knowledge has had a concomitant influence such that a society composed of mostly older individuals, as they are now by many measures, is qualitatively different from previous aging human societies? More directly, we intend to address whether the spectrum of human diseases, which by far reduce the general quality of life, primarily attack the elderly.

In this chapter, we share our realization of the importance of biology in understanding health and disease. As professional scientists who began their careers by asking basic questions in biology, we learned early that comments about health trends follow calculable responses to Census questions on numbers of doctors. Insights into how shifting guidelines for cancer detection or osteoporosis treatment stem from the discovery of a new gene causing the diseases themselves emerge from some knowledge of how these discoveries occur. Knowledge of the extremely limited most essential basic knowledge in modern molecular and cell biology helps to make predictions for how diverse technologies developed in other areas of biology, such as stem cells, genetically engineered organisms, or recombinant DNA, will impact human well-being and perpetuate our species.

4. Ethical Considerations in Biology and Biomedical Research

Biology and biomedicine occupy unique positions within the scientific and technological realms. As agents of discovery and knowledge translation, they possess profound connections to individuals as well as to society as a whole. Consequently, activities that are biologically related often attract greater ethical and moral scrutiny from the general public on matters involving privacy, voluntary consent, definable risks, the altruistic nature of human actions and interventions, and the greater good. In order for society to derive maximum benefit from the blessings bestowed upon it by science and technology, a pattern of mutual respect, trust, and reciprocal obligation needs to exist between scientists and the public. Indeed, an ever-growing number of social thinkers argue that our entire moral vernacular, as well as conceptions of individual identity and social responsibility, has a basic biological infrastructure captured by the use of concepts such as gene, organ, function, pathology, and treatment.

Biological research is a science without “boundaries”; advances in various fields have greatly facilitated discoveries in their respective areas. However, the increasing scope of accomplishments in biological research represents both opportunities and challenges for modern society. The task for these essays is to address deeper ethical and practical considerations in order to gain a clearer understanding of the societal implications of biological research and focus on how we, as scientists, could forge constructive interactions with the public on various issues related to biology and biomedicine.

5. Conclusion: The Future of Biology and Its Implications for Society

The essays in this volume cover a wide range of issues, from the human dimensions of biotechnology to the future of “big science.” We hope these contrasting perspectives will stimulate thought and debate among scientists, students, industrialists, politicians, and the informed public. Biology and biological science enjoy a unique place in contemporary society. Fascination with, and wonder at, the marvels of life in all its dimensions are powerful common human emotions, virtually inscribed in our genes. Yet modern biology, especially as it applies to human beings, also evokes awe, and in many cases, profound questions. These questions and the excitement of modern biology are the subject of the essays in this volume.

The purpose of this volume is to focus attention on the important issues that biology will face in the future, and to highlight the potential impact of these issues on society. Moreover, the volume addresses these complex issues from a variety of perspectives, drawing on the broad multidisciplinary information base that can reveal the subtleties as well as the far-reaching implications of biological science in the twenty-first century. Our hope is that readers will better appreciate and understand this unique, exciting, and sometimes troubling period in the history of biological science. We believe that the biological sciences offer potentially great benefits to society, but the growing pace of new developments also makes it increasingly difficult for the public to assess these benefits, as well as the risks.