Noun

biology (countable and uncountable; plural biologies)

1. The study of all living matter in all its forms, with respect to the living organism or groups of organisms.
2. The forms of life in a place, their behavior and interaction, and the study thereof.
3. The structure, function, and behavior of an organism or type of organism.

Meronyms

• See also Wikisaurus:biology

Derived terms

• marine biology
• microbiology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.

Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines.

Among the most important topics are five unifying principles that can be said to be the fundamental axioms of modern biology:

1. Cells are the basic unit of life
2. New species and inherited traits are the product of evolution
3. Genes are the basic unit of heredity
4. An organism will regulate its internal environment to maintain a stable and constant condition
5. Living organisms consume and transform energy.

Subdisciplines of biology are recognized on the basis of the scale at which organisms are studied and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life; molecular biology studies the complex interactions of systems of biological molecules; cellular biology examines the basic building block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of the tissues, organs, and organ systems of an organism; and ecology examines how various organisms interrelate with their environment.