biology homework answers

biology homework answers

The Importance of Biology in Everyday Life

1. Introduction

A fine account of the use of biology in science isn’t possible without a grapple with the definitions. Science is a methodical enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. It usually employs the scientific method, a systematic and empirical effort involving the gathering of data under controlled conditions and the building of theories with what is uncovered. An explanation is a set of facts integrated into a meaningful structure. An explanation takes the form of a statement that purports to explain why or how something is the way it is, and predictions are statements that assert that a particular thing will occur in the future. As for biology, in a simple and traditional view, it is a natural science that is concerned with the study of life and living organisms. Take the understandings of science and biology, put them in a metaphorical cauldron, and what do we get? Biology doesn’t have a fixed area where it can perform its activities, so it is applicable in every type of science. From biological sciences, scientific method, explanations, and predictions, we can say that biology has an important role in science, particularly in its fathomless involvement with human life. Biology improves the efficiency of the system with technology. An improvement can be in the form of new machinery or in the form of a new technique to accomplish a certain task. A machine or a technique is derived from knowledge that is tested and gathered. This reflects the scientific method in which biology tries to further understand life and living organisms. New machinery and techniques are predictions where their aim is to make life easier for a living organism. The improved efficiency is an attribute to a living organism since it enables him to have the job done in a shorter period of time, allowing more time for leisure.

2. Section One: Understanding the Basics of Biology

When considering life and living organisms, the diversity between them is truly fascinating. Variation between different types of living organisms and life is immense and this is something biologists are able to study and understand. Taxonomy is the process of identifying, naming, and classifying living organisms. Through taxonomy, biologists are able to understand and appreciate the diversity of life on Earth by identifying all living organisms and assigning them a type. This is done with consideration to evolutionary relationships between organisms and classifying them in a way that would show their evolutionary history.

Biology effectively provides an understanding of the miracle of life. To the question of ‘What is life’, biologists are able to answer it by studying the characteristics of life. For something to be alive, it must possess the following characteristics: living things are composed of cells, living things contain genetic information, living things undergo and experience growth, living things exhibit homeostasis, living things respond to stimuli, living things reproduce, and finally, living things evolve and adapt to their environment. Through understanding these characteristics, simpler questions about various living organisms can be answered. For example, take the case of the Venus flytrap, which is a plant that consumes insects. By understanding the biological characteristics of life, it explains that despite being a plant, the Venus flytrap is indeed alive as it exhibits all the characteristics of a living organism.

Biology is the study of living organisms and the world surrounding them. It is a broad subject containing many subdivisions. Subdivisions consist of subjects like zoology, botany, and microbiology. Zoology is the study of animals. Botany is the study of plants. Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms, just to name a few. Biology is the science that focuses on living organisms, their physical structure, chemical processes, molecular interactions, physiological mechanisms, development, and evolution. Modern biology is a vast and eclectic field, composed of many disciplines and subdisciplines. Biologists are able to understand the vast diversity of life through the study of many different aspects of it.

3. Section Two: Exploring the Role of Biology in Health and Medicine

The mapping of the human genome has also played a major role in improving the availability and effectiveness of certain forms of medical treatment. The human genome is the entire DNA sequence of Homo sapiens and by finding which sequence relates to which trait, it is possible to find out what that trait has been caused by and how to solve the problem if it is undesirable. Family history of a disease and your likelihood of getting the disease can now be evidenced and this has created a new form of medicine known as predictive medicine. This allows patients to take a genetic test that detects their probability of getting a genetic disease. This could either help to relieve an immense amount of worry or assist them to make certain life changes to prevent getting the disease. An example of an effective form of treatment which has been developed as a result of gene mapping is trastuzumab (Herceptin). This drug is a monoclonal antibody, which has been found to be very effective in treating cases of breast cancer where there is over-expression of the HER2 gene.

One of the most widely recognized areas where biology plays a significant role in the development of new forms of treatment and curing diseases is in genetic engineering. This is the process of using DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid – the chemical compound which contains the instructions for life) to alter the features of an organism. An example of the way in which genetic engineering has been detrimental in the field of medicine is the altering of the way in which an insulin molecule is formed. This process was first introduced with the use of GM (genetically modified) bacteria in 1979 and since then has been used as a regular basis to produce human insulin by inserting a human insulin gene into another organism as it’s cheaper and easier to harvest.

4. Section Three: Biology’s Impact on the Environment

Human activity poses another deadly threat to our planet’s fragile balance. This section examines the ways in which modern humans are using and abusing the environment. We have all seen the news clippings: thousands of dead fish, birds, seals, and other animals washing up on shore; a belly-up deer sprawled in the foreground; a landfill oozing sludge into the local water supply; a stretch of beach in a third-world country, swarming with garbage and debris, behind it a wide, brown oil-slicked sea, void of life. In our generation, the human face of environmental devastation is accelerating. We are the most powerful generation that has ever lived. We have more technology, conveniences, and knowledge than any other generation. We are also the most destructive generation to ever have lived. The long-term impact humans have on the environment has been up to now quite detrimental with species extinction, global warming, ecosystem degradation, and pollution. Biologists are scrambling to find and implement solutions to our planet’s pressing environmental problems. An understanding of how ecosystems function, the impact of global environmental change, the impact of human activity on endangerment and extinction, and ways to enhance conservation are all goals toward the effort of improving the future for the biosphere. These efforts ring a tone of restoring hope that one day humans may coexist in sustainable living with a healthy biosphere. This hope and human effort will be what prevents the immeasurable tragedy of losing to an extent the very planet we all call home.

5. Conclusion: Embracing the Wonders of Biology

Biology is a science that is all around us. It is one of the most important sciences. It is the science of life and living things. Biologists work in many places. Some study outside in the “field”. The field can be a farm, a jungle, a desert, a wetland, a forest, or a park. In these places, biologists study the living world. They may count the number of different kinds of animals. They may watch animals in their natural homes. Some biologists work in labs. In labs, biologists study the smallest living things and non-living things that affect life. Because biology is a broad subject, there are many different areas in biology. If a person wishes to go into agriculture, botany, animals, or even food service, there is a job out there for every person. Everything we do is biology, from the way our body works to the way an animal or plant behaves. Biology is the study of living things and there is nothing more important than that.