Biology Branches

Descriptive and comparative Embryology are the classic area or biology scope of Development studies, although postembryological development, particularly the aging process, is also examined. The biochemical ad biophysical mechanisms that control normal development are of particular interest when they are related to birth defects, cancer, and other abnormalities.

Inheritance of physical and biochemical characteristics, and the variations that appear from generation to generation, are the general subjects of Genetics. The emphasis may be on improving domestic plants and animals through controlled breeding, or it may be on the more fundamental questions of molecular and cellular mechanisms of Heredity.

A branch of biology growing in importance since the 1940s, molecular biology essentially developed out of genetics and Biochemistry. It seeks to explain biological events by studying the molecular basis of genetics, nucleic acids in particular, and its relationship to energy cycling and replication. Evolution, including the appearance of new species, the modification of existing species, and the characteristics of extinct ones, is base on genetic principles. Information about the structure and distribution of fossils that is provided by paleontologists is essential to understanding these changes.

Morphology examines the Anatomy of organisms of organisms. The middle levels or biological organization cells, tissue, and organs, are the usual topics, with comparisons drawn among organisms to help establish taxonomic and evolutionary relationships. As important as the form of an organisms are its functions. Physiology is concerned with organism are its functions. Physiology is concerned with the life processes of entire organisms as well as those of cells tissue, and organs. Metabolism and hormonal controls are some of the special interest of the discipline.