Branches of biology and what they study (with examples)

The biology areas They are all the various disciplines or areas that the study of biology encompasses. Biology is a natural science whose field of study is living beings: their structures, relationships, evolutions, among many others.

Being the object of study so broad, the best way to approach the knowledge of life is by creating several "plots" where biologists specialize. However, all branches are related in one way or another and use common tools and procedures.

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Biology areas	What do you study	Examples
Anatomy	Structure and shape of living beings	Location of the femoral vein in humans.
Bacteriology	The bacteria	Salmonella sp., Neisseria meningitidis.
Bioinformatics	Biological databases	Phylogenetic trees, protein homology
Structural biology	Three-dimensional shape of macromolecules	Structure of the protein myosin in the heart muscle.
Marine biology	Organisms that live in the sea	Zooplankton, phytoplankton, fishing industry.
Molecular biology	Biological macromolecules	Transcription factors (proteins) that bind to nucleotide sequences (DNA) of specific genes.
Biochemistry	Cellular chemical reactions	Glycolysis, glycogenogenesis, lactic fermentation.
Botany	Plants	Angiosperm and gymnosperm, monocots and dicots.
Cytology	Cells	Epithelial cells, lymphocytes, monocytes.
Ecology	Interactions between living things and their environment	Ecosystems of a country.
Embryology	Development and formation of the embryo	Effect of alcohol consumption on human embryonic development.
Endocrinology	Endocrine system and hormones	Pancreas and insulin in type 1 and 2 diabetes.
Entomology	Insects and their relationship with humans	Ants, butterflies, bees.
Enzymology	Enzymes	Hexokinase, an enzyme that phosphorylates glucose in the first step of glycolysis.
epidemiology	Spread of disease	Prediction of the spread of a disease according to the level of contagion.
Ethology	Behavior of animals	Bird migrations; animal mating rituals.
Phylogeny	Origin and evolution of living beings	Nucleotide differences in the cytochrome c gene between humans and chimpanzees.
Physiology	Life-sustaining processes	Action potential of the neuron.
Genetics	Mechanisms of inheritance	Mutations, genetic polymorphisms, sex-linked diseases.
Herpetology	Reptiles and amphibians	Snakes, turtles, iguanas, toads.
Histology	Cell tissues	Tissue biopsies.
Ichthyology	Fishes	Displacement of trout in polluted rivers.
Immunology	Immunity and immune system	T lymphocytes and antibodies.
Mammalogy	Mammals	Mammalian biodiversity in a given territory.
Mycology	Mushrooms	Candida albicans, Coccidioides immitis.
Microbiology	Microorganisms	Bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, and viruses.
Ornithology	Birds	Communication between male and female birds through song.
Paleontology	Fossils	Dental study in sarcopterygians of the Devonian period.
parasitology	Parasites	The intestinal parasite Taenia saginata.
Taxonomy	Classification of living things	Domain, kingdom, rank, class, order, family, genus, species.
Virology	Virus	Coronavirus, retrovirus, influenza
Zoology	Animals	Animal monitoring in national reserves.

Anatomy

Anatomy is the branch of biology that studies the shape and structure of organs that form multicellular living beings. Within anatomy there is comparative anatomy that relates animal structures with those of the human. Human anatomy is an area of great importance in medicine.

Bacteriology

Bacteriology is the branch of biology that study bacteria, living beings unicellular prokaryotes, belonging to the domain Bacterium. Bacteriologists are dedicated to identifying bacteria in different types of samples, either through culture in appropriate media for the growth of bacteria, or by biology techniques molecular.

Bioinformatics or computational biology

Bioinformatics is the branch of biology that studies data from biological databases with computational tools. It is applied in the comparison of sequences of nucleic acids, proteins and other biological molecules.

The bioinformatician processes a large amount of data, using the speed of computational mathematical calculations and statistics. With bioinformatics tools it is possible to compare the sequence of new viruses with already known viruses and thus determine the mutations and design strategies for their eradication.

Structural biology

Structural biology is the branch of biology that studies the three-dimensional shape of macromolecules and how its structure relates to its function. An example of its application is the study of cardiac myosin variants, a protein of the heart muscle cell, in hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathies.

Marine biology

Marine biology is the branch of biology that is responsible for study the organisms that live in the sea and their interactions. Marine biologists collect samples from the sea for analysis in laboratories using dip bottles, or on research vessels.

Marine biology evaluates usable resources and determines the rules for their exploitation and for the conservation of the ecological balance, as well as knowledge of the distribution and biology of commercial species for the industry fishery.

Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the discipline that deals with the study of biological macromolecules, mainly from deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. This branch of biology uses a large repertoire of techniques such as cell culture, Cellular cloning, recombinant DNA and the polymerase chain reaction or PCR (for its acronym in English).

Molecular biology is the foundation of genetic engineering, gene therapy, and recombinant proteins.

Biochemistry

Biochemistry is responsible for study of the "chemistry of life": the chemical reactions that maintain the metabolism of living beings, their components and transformations. Biochemists employ many chemical and physical analytical techniques, including electrophoresis, centrifugation, spectrophotometry, and chromatography.

Biochemistry has a great application in the field of health, with the analysis of compounds blood, the design of enzyme inhibitors as therapy and discovering the molecular causes of the diseases.

You may be interested in seeing the branches of chemistry.

Botany

Botany is defined as the plant study, which includes their growth, development and reproduction, as well as the physiology and biochemistry of the processes they require for their maintenance. In this way, general botany encompasses the broadest knowledge of plant species, while systematic botany is the branch of botany that describes, names and classifies the plants.

Botany investigates the relationships between plants and humans, the nutritional and medicinal properties of plants, and their role in agriculture.

Cytology

Cytology is the branch of biology that deals with the study of cells. This discipline arose with the invention of the microscope and its use in the analysis of human cells and tissues. Currently, cytology has techniques as advanced as flow cytometry and electron tomography.

Ecology

Ecology is the study of the interactions between living beings and the non-living components that surround them, like water, air and land. The name derives from the combination of the Greek terms oikos, which means "home", and logos, which means study. It is also known as the "Biology of ecosystems".

Ecologists participate in programs for the preservation of biodiversity and the restoration of natural environments.

You may be interested in seeing the types of ecosystems.

Embryology

Embryology is the branch of biology that studies the development and formation of the embryo, the first stage of development of multicellular living beings. For example, in humans this stage extends from the moment of fertilization of the ovum by the sperm to twelve weeks.

Embryology also investigates the causes of genetic malformations and the evolution of anatomical structures in animals.

Endocrinology

Endocrinology is the branch of biology that study the endocrine system: their parts, development and function of hormones. Endocrinology is also a specialization of medicine, where endocrinologists are responsible for the treatment of human metabolic disorders based on the malfunction of the glands endocrine.

Entomology

Entomology is the branch of biology that is limited to study of insectsInvertebrate animals with exoskeleton and segmented body, such as bees, ants, belonging to the arthropod phylum. A subdiscipline of entomology is forensic entomology, which is the study of arthropods found in corpses to determine the causes of death.

Enzymology

Enzymology is the branch of biology that study enzymes, catalyst proteins that accelerate biochemical reactions. Chemical reactions to maintain life must be carried out under moderate conditions, which can only be possible thanks to the action of enzymes.

Enzymology studies the chemical mechanisms by which the amino acids of a protein accelerate a reaction, how the speed of the reaction is affected when some conditions are modified and which molecules regulate or inhibit these reactions.

epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of the health and disease states of populations. Although epidemiology is generally associated with human health, it also applies to other populations, such as animals and plants.

Ethology

Ethology is the branch of biology that study the behavior of animals, such as animal migrations, hunting strategies, and mating rituals. The word "ethology" derives from the Greek ethos which means "behavior" and logos which means "treaty".

Ethologists are based on observing the animal in its environment and comparing it with human behavior.

Phylogeny

The phylogeny is the study of the origin and evolution of living beings.

Physiology

Physiology is the study of the processes that maintain life, how and why they happen. The name derives from the Greek words physis, which means "nature", and lodge, which means "knowledge". Physiology in turn is subdivided into plant physiology, animal physiology, human physiology, experimental physiology, comparative physiology, among others.

Physiologists conduct experiments on animals and / or plants or cells, with a variety of techniques. Examples of physiological studies are those related to the transmission of the nerve impulse and the processes of cellular transport.

It may interest you to see Active and passive cellular transport.

Genetics

Genetics is the branch of biology that deals with study of the transmission of hereditary characters. Within this discipline is, among others, population genetics that studies how evolve and molecular genetics, which seeks to find out the chemical nature of the gene and its function in cells.

Herpetology

Herpetology is the branch of biology, and in particular zoology, which is responsible for study reptiles and amphibianssuch as snakes, salamanders, lizards, and crocodiles. The herpetologist studies these animals in their wild conditions and determines the factors that may be affecting them, such as invasive species, climatic conditions, pollution, among others.

Histology

Histology is the study of tissues and the cells that make them up. Histologists prepare the tissues with different techniques, and by means of the optical and / or electronic microscope they detect normal and abnormal patterns in the samples. The main application of histology is in the diagnosis of pathologies, such as cancer.

Ichthyology

Ichthyology focuses on the fish study in their natural environment.

Immunology

Immunology is the branch of biology that is dedicated to immunity study and associated systems. The immune system of higher animals has the function of defending the organism against foreign agents invaders, such as viruses, bacteria, parasites and other microorganisms, as well as against malignant cells and transplants.

Thanks to immunology there are immunological tests, monoclonal antibodies and vaccines.

Mammalogy

Mammalogy is the branch of biology that is specializes in mammals, group of homeothermic animals that are characterized by suckling their young, such as dogs, cats and humans.

Mycology

Mycology is the branch of biology that is dedicated to study of organisms within the kingdom of fungi. Medical mycology specializes in fungi that are pathogenic to humans, such as coccidioidomycosis caused by the fungus Coccidioides immitis or cryptococcosis, caused by Cryptococcus sp.

Microbiology

Microbiology is defined as the branch of biology that deals with the study of microscopic life forms, that is, from microbes. These represent such a heterogeneous group, which includes, bacteria, protozoa, yeasts and molds. His main work tool is the optical and electronic microscope.

Microbiologists have an important role in various areas, where the presence of microbes is critical, such as in the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry and medicine.

Ornithology

Ornithology is the branch of biology that is dedicated to study of birds: its evolution, physiology, behavior and relationship with the human being.

Ornithologists have the skills to determine the viability status of a bird species.For example, the Andean condor Vultur gryphus, a species in a critical state of extinction in South America.

Paleontology

Paleontology is the branch of biology that study the fossils, remains of organisms that lived a long time ago and were preserved as traces of the past. The paleontologist looks in the fossils to decipher the history of the species, how they lived and evolved. For example, a group of paleontologists studied how teeth were replaced in sarcopterygian fish of the Devonian period, of the species Onychodus, Eusthenopteron Y Tiktaalik, and compare it to the living coelacanth Latimeria.

parasitology

Parasitology is the study of parasites, living things that live at the expense of other living things. Mosquitoes, ticks, lice are ectoparasites that live outside the host, occasionally sucking blood. Trypanosomes and amoebas live inside the body of the organism that they are parasitizing, so they are endoparasites.

Parasitologists use various techniques, in addition to observation through light and electron microscopy. The most relevant parasites are those that affect human health, such as Plasmodium sp. that causes malaria or malaria, or the Leishmania sp. that causes leishmaniasis.

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the branch of biology that is responsible for classify living things according to its physical, chemical and molecular characteristics. In this sense, there is a hierarchical classification system, which goes from the highest level, which is the domain, to the most specific level, which is the species.

Taxonomists or taxonomists have the task of collecting and describing species according to a set of nomenclature rules. If he does not fit into a known species, he is faced with the task of giving this species a name.

You may also be interested in seeing Classification of living things.

Virology

Virology comprises the study of viruses: its constitution, mechanisms of propagation, classification and pathogenicity. Viruses are infectious agents between 0.002 and 0.25 microns, with an outer protein coat that protects a nucleic acid.

In virology, use can be made of genetic sequencers, cell cultures and in vivo experiments, with the aim of identifying and classifying viruses.

Zoology

Zoology deals with the scientific study of animals, specifically the individual lives of animals. Zoologists can perform their duties both in the field and in zoos, aquariums, and nature reserves.

References

Campbell, P.N. (1981) Biology in profile. Pergamon Press.

Doeland, M., Couzens, A. M.C., Donoghue, P.C.J., Rücklin, M. (2019) Tooth replacement in early sarcopterygians. Royal Society Open Science. DOI: 10.1098 / rsos.191173