Biology: The Study of Life

The unifying themes in biology include the fact that all organisms are made up of cells processing hereditary information, the role of evolution in explaining the unity and diversity of life, the importance of energy processing for movement and reproduction, and the ability of organisms to regulate their internal environments.

Biologists can study life at multiple levels of organization, from the molecular biology of a cell to the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, and the evolution of populations.

Life on Earth, which emerged more than 3.7 billion years ago, is immensely diverse, ranging from prokaryotic organisms such as archaea and bacteria to eukaryotic organisms such as protists, fungi, plants, and animals.

Biologists use the scientific method to make observations, pose questions, generate hypotheses, perform experiments, and form conclusions about the world around them.

There are multiple subdisciplines within biology, each defined by the nature of their research questions and the tools that they use. Examples include molecular biology, anatomy and physiology, and the study of evolution.