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An organism is defined in a medical dictionary as any living thing that functions as an individual. [1] Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been proposed to define what is an organism.
In biology, taxonomy (from Ancient Greek τάξις ( taxis) 'arrangement', and -νομία ( -nomia) ' method ') is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given a taxonomic ...
Biology is the scientific study of life. [1] [2] [3] It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. [1] [2] [3] For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary information encoded in genes , which can be transmitted to future generations.
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms. [1] [2] [3] It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working in the 19th century in Brno, was the first to study genetics scientifically. Mendel studied "trait inheritance ...
Biological organisation is the organisation of complex biological structures and systems that define life using a reductionistic approach. [1] The traditional hierarchy, as detailed below, extends from atoms to biospheres. The higher levels of this scheme are often referred to as an ecological organisation concept, or as the field, hierarchical ...
Biological processes are made of many chemical reactions or other events that are involved in the persistence and transformation of life forms. [1] Regulation of biological processes occurs when any process is modulated in its frequency, rate or extent. Biological processes are regulated by many means; examples include the control of gene ...
Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life forms on Earth. Evolution holds that all species are related and gradually change over generations. [1]
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from matter that does not. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction. All life over time eventually reaches a state of ...