Biology is Everywhere

Prepared By: Reo Paolo M. Uri

Welcome to biology the scientific study of life. Biology is everywhere you are alive and so are your friends your pets, and the plants in your home and yard. Innumerate other organisms thrive on and in your body. The food you have eaten today was until recently anyway alive. And the news is full of biology related stories about newly discovered fossils, weight loss, cancer prevention, genetics, global climate change, and the environment. Stories such as these enjoy frequent media coverage because this is an exciting time to study biology. Not only is the field changing rapidly, but its new discoveries and applications might change your life. DNA technology has brought us genetically engineered bacteria can manufacture life-saving drugs- and genetically engineered plants that produce their own pesticide. The same technology mat one day enable physicians to routinely cure hemophilia, that produce own pesticides, cystic fibrosis, and other genetic disease by replacing faulty DNA with a functoinal "patch".

The ability to sequence DNA has led to a wealth of new information. In a field of biogy called genomics, scientists compare the DNA of many species, from bacteria to pine trees to humans. Genomics is yielding unprevented insight into everything from the history of life to the function of individual disease-causing genes. And the biotechnology revolution doesn't stop with genomics. Each of your cells has the same DNA, sequence but cells don't all use that genetic information in the same way. DNA is organized into genes, each of which acts as a recipe for a specific protein. Thank to different combinations of genes that are "on" and "off" each cell type has a specified function. The study of the proteins that a cell produces has blossomed into yet another new field of biology: proteomics may someday save your life. Once we discover which protiens make breast cancer cells different from their healthy neighbors, perhaps we can find a better treatment or even a cure. Likewise, imposed vaccines or antibodies may follow from studies of the proteins that disease-causing microbes produce.

DNA technology, genomics and proteomics are but a small part of modern biology. This book will bring you a taste of what we know about life and help you make sense of the science-related news you see everyday.

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