By: Maiar Azmy Hassan Ahmed Sakr

Importance of Biology: How the Study of

Life Affects Ours

Biology is all about studying life and living organisms. We’re living organisms
and we eat living organisms, so you could probably guess that it has something
to tell use about what’s going on all around – and inside – us. But how
important is biology to our everyday routines, exactly?

You’re about to find out, because we’re going to dish some details on how the
many branches of biology apply specifically to where you live, what you eat, and
the things you do.

Understanding Our Bodies

From genetics to physiology, the many branches of biology have much to tell us
about what the human body is made up of, how it works, and how it’s affected
by what we eat, the air we breath, and every other aspect of the world around
us. It can help us prevent, cure, and even eliminate disease. It can even teach us
to become stronger and faster or lose weight.

 Treating Disease

Biology as a whole is one of the cornerstones of all forms of modern healthcare.

The field known as pharmacology is literally medicine. It deals with researching
and creating everything from over-the-counter pain relievers to prescription
drugs for depression.
Immunology studies our immune system and how it reacts to all sorts of
different threats. Pathology diagnoses diseases and what causes them, as well
as what they do to the body. Virology does the same for the many different
viruses that may seek to do us harm.

Don’t even get us started on biology’s role in the study of genetics and DNA.
Scientists are now able to pinpoint exactly where certain predispositions to
certain diseases exists without our biological makeup, how they’re passed from
generation to generation, and even working on breakthroughs to remove
undesirable traits from people on a molecular level. It’s absolutely fascinating
to think of the endless possibilities that biology is gradually opening the door
for when it comes to our health.

 Proper Nutrition

By knowing how our body works and what it reacts positively to, nutritionists
are able to devise the perfect diet for our needs – whether that be losing weight
or gaining it, fueling heavy exercise or just an office job. It’s all about proteins,
fats, carbohydrates, and other key nutrients, how our body breaks them down,
and where they fit into the equation of our overall health. This is the main
concern of biochemistry.

For instance, we’re aware that sugar provides an energy spike but leads to a
rough crash afterwards because of the way our body digests it and turns it into
something we can use. We also know it can create unwanted fat deposits and do
some bad things to our teeth. These are all things dealt with by nutritional
biology.

When you make the decision to “eat healthier” you’re actually putting aspects
of biology to work without even knowing it.

 Exercise Science

Next time you watch sports, remember that you’re seeing biology’s influence in
action. The athletes competing are capable of such amazing feats of speed and
strength partially because of our understanding the human body through
anatomy and other branches of biology. Scientists have used this knowledge to
create the methods of training that help propel our sports stars to incredible
heights.

And it goes beyond lifting weights to build muscle or running to develop

endurance. Physiologists get into the nitty gritty about how and why our
muscles react to stress. They discover what causes us to become dehydrated. Or
what provides us with the energy to run marathons or dunk a basketball.

On the surface, you might just think you run out of breath when you run too far.
But for exercise physiologists, they’re not content with such a basic explanation.
They’ve dug deep to realize exactly how our body uses oxygen and the complex
series of reactions that make us tired. To learn more about the science of
exercise, you’ll want to take a look at this well-reviewed course.

Understanding Our Environment

Humans aren’t the only living things biology is concerned with. It also tells us
all about plants and animals – how they live, what they’re made up of, and how
they interact with mankind and each other. This enables us to make the most of
our planet’s natural resources while trying to minimize the impact we have on
the environment.

 Conservationism

By understanding how nature really works and what allows it to flourish, we’re
able to pinpoint what ways we might cause harm to it and look for more
environmentally friendly menthods of doing things. Ecology, for example,
studies the relationship between animals, plants, and the environment, helping
us understand how the things humans and other animals do can hurt or help
Mother Nature.

Conservation biology measures extinction rates and analyzes how each species
fits within the ecosystem to identify which animals are crucial to maintaining
balance. But evolutionary biology also helps us understand how things have
evolved over time and that not every species can survive for the long haul.

Scientists are even working with economists to determine natural capital, or the
economic value of our environment and wildlife to make things more tangible
to businessmen and world leaders. We rely so heavily on all the things we get
from the environment – food, oxygen, shelter, fuel – that it only makes sense to
get a better understanding of how to keep it thriving

If you’d like to do your part to help the environment, give this course on
growing your own permaculture garden a try.

 Using Natural Resources

A huge part of maintaining our environment is finding the best ways to harness
the Earth’s natural resources in ways that are safe, efficient, and don’t cause too
much damage to nature. This includes everything from drilling oil to chopping
down trees.

The great things about trees and other renewable resources is the fact that they
can grow back or replenish themselves naturally over time. But not if they’re
cut, burned, or mined too quickly and aggressively. Biology helps us find a
balance between taking advantage of the tools we have while not destroying
those same tools for future generations.

Through studying the best ways to fuel our needs for energy and materials,
we’re also able to find ways to make the most out of what we have and even find
alternatives that work just as well. For example, using corn to create ethanol
fuel as a potential replacement or supplement to the oil we currently use to
power our cars.

 Harvesting Food

Plants are living organisms just like the rest of us, meaning biology takes an
interest in them too. Agrobiology deals specifically with determining the best
soil conditions to deliver nutrients to plants to make them grow big and strong.
This can have a significant impact on a farmer’s crop yields.

Botany, the branch of biology that deals with the study of plants, is how we know
what plants we can eat in the first place. Unless you want to go around tasting
every berry and fruit you come across to see which ones are good to eat, we’d
recommend relying on our biology experts to tell us what’s what. The science
also plays a huge role in raising livestock like cows and chickens. By utilizing
some of that nutrition we talked about earlier and applying it to farm animals,
we’re able to get them nice and big so they provide plenty of meat and fertilizer.

Fishing, too. There’s marine biology and freshwater biology, among others, to
teach us what fish are where and how good they are to eat. There’s even a field
of biology dedicated to just studying fish, but we won’t make you try to
pronounce that one. And sure, our ancestors were catching fish long before they
understood the intricacies of science but that doesn’t mean we don’t benefit
greatly from it with more efficient fishing methods, bigger hauls, and even fish
farming.

It’s Literally Everywhere

The information biology has taught us is present in everything we know. Look
in the mirror. Your ability to identify the parts of your face can be credited to
anatomy. What you eat for lunch was influenced by biology and put on your
plate with the help of biology .

The medication or vitamins you take daily, your exercise routine – it all comes
back to that fundamental science we’ve been telling you about. Pay attention to
all the things you do today and see if you can point out their connection to
biology. And if you want to connect it to your business by embracing the
growing biotechnology industry