Study of Biology

• Biology


  The study of living things
• A large variety of living things exists on the land, in the water and in the air
• Living things (organisms) include plants, animals including man and other organisms
• Biology deals with the study of all organisms that live or have ever lived on the earth
• Main branches of biology (based on nature of organisms)

  • Botany
  • Zoology
  • Microbiology
• Some other branches (based on method of studying Biology)

  • Morphology
  • Anatomy
  • Histology
  • Cytology
  • Physiology
  • Embryology
  • Palaeontology
  • Taxonomy
  • Ecology
  • Biodiversity
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Mycology
  • Protistology
  • Phycology
  • Virology
  • Bacteriology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Bioinformatics
• Botany


  Study of plants
• Zoology


  Study of animals
• Microbiology


  Study of microscopic organisms
• Morphology


  Study of forms and structures of organisms
• Anatomy


  Study of gross internal structures
• Histology


  Study of microscopic structures of tissues
• Cytology


  Study of cells
• Physiology


  Study of living processes or functions of various parts of organisms
• Embryology


  Study of early development of organisms
• Palaeontology


  Study of fossils (the remains of organisms that lived millions of years ago; now preserved in rocks)
• Taxonomy


  Study of classification of organisms
• Ecology


  Study of relationships of organisms to their environments
• Biodiversity


  Study of varieties among living organisms
• Evolution


  Study of origin and change in the forms of organism over time
• Genetics


  Study of heredity and variations
• Mycology


  Study of fungi
• Protistology


  Study of protists
• Phycology


  Study of algae
• Virology


  Study of viruses
• Bacteriology


  Study of bacteria
• Molecular Biology


  Study of molecules in organisms
• Biotechnology


  Study of utilization of living organism in industrial processes
• Bioinformatics


  Study of information technology to interpret molecular biology data
• Taxonomy


  The science of classification of organisms
• Process of classification


  1. Study of organisms

  2. Giving every organism an agreed name

  3. Placing the organism into a group based on the common characteristics it shares with other
• Taxonomic Hierarchy


  • Biologists place similar organisms together
  • Similar species are grouped together in the same genus
  • Similar genera are grouped together into families
  • This is extended from families to orders, then classes, phyla or divisions and kingdoms
• Binomial System of Nomenclature

  • Each plant or animal is given a two-word name
  • The first name is the genus and the second the species
  • The name of the genus is always started with a capital letter and the name of the species with a small letter
• Binomial System of Nomenclature

  • Homo sapiens
  • Oryza sativa
• Domains of life


  • Archaea
  • Bacteria
  • Eukarya
• Kingdoms of life


  • Archaeabacteria
  • Eubacteria
  • Protista
  • Fungi
  • Plantae
  • Animalia