Biology is called the science that is devoted to the study of living beings from the point of view of its origin, evolution, reproduction, etc. The study of this is carried out at the atomic, molecular, cellular and multicellular levels.
In this sense, biology then deals with the study of living beings (humans, animals and plants) physically and in relation to the environment, throughout their life process.
The concept of biology was first used by Lamarck during what is known as the Enlightenment. Nevertheless, the discipline has a long history, dating back to classical Greece. Thus, the first to reflect on life were the pre-Socratic philosophers, although without being able to reflect it in a systematic knowledge. Aristotle would be one of the first to outline a series of guidelines that would have much influence in coming centuries, partly thanks to the study carried out on a huge number of animals; He was the first to make a classification of living beings, having this validity for a long time, until it was replaced by a new one made by Linnaeus. A follower of his, Theophrastus, wrote texts on botany that were influential until the Middle Ages.
The Renaissance was a time of greening of this science, after a Middle Ages with few contributions. Vasalio stands out with his emphasis on empiricism, an attitude that contrasts with a past that valued abstract thought more. However, this field of knowledge was not yet completely independent, and was interspersed with insights that were alien to the scientific world.
The most important contributions would come in times to come, first with the aforementioned classification that Lineo established on species, then with the contributions of Charles Darwin with regard to evolution, and finally, with the cell theory, starting from the bases established by Schwann and Schleiden. All this new knowledge would be completed in the 20th century with the introduction of genetics.
In addition, advances in the study of living beings allowed the development of much more specific professions and disciplines, such as medicine, veterinary medicine, agronomy, marine biology or botany. Each one of them focuses its studies on a certain group of living beings, and deepens the analysis of the processes that occur in them. In most cases, biology intersects with other sciences to provide answers to their studies, and it is then interdisciplinary analysis, such as chemistry, mathematics or physics.
On the other hand, in the case of animals and vegetables, advances in biological studies allowed productive developments, as in the case of livestock and agriculture, in the search for higher yields from raw materials, and the optimization of raw materials. natural resources. For example, genetic modification so that plants produce more fruits or are immune to certain insect pests; or in the case of animals, modifications in the anatomy so that cows produce more milk or improvements in animal meat.
In addition to the merely theoretical, the contributions of biology have made numerous advances in the area of health, both for the prevention and cure of diseases. In particular, the recent discovery of the human genome opens the door to new possibilities that have yet to be explored.
Besides, biology, after the discovery of the human genome (DNA) was involved in the ethical dilemma of what are the limits of man to modify or produce changes within the physical or genetic aspect of a person. In this case, cloning practices, not yet produced on humans, was and is the center of debate on several occasions.
