Biology is the branch of science dealing with the study of life. It is concerned with the characteristics, classification, and behaviors of organisms, how species come into existence, and the interactions they have with each other and with the environment. Biology encompasses a broad spectrum of academic fields that are often viewed as independent disciplines. However, together they address phenomena related to living organisms (biological phenomena) over a wide range of scales, from biochemistry to ecology. All concepts in biology are subject to the same laws that other branches of science obey, such as the laws of thermodynamics and conservation of mass.

At the organism level, biology has explained phenomena such as birth, growth, aging, death and decay of living organisms, similarities between offspring and their parents (heredity) and flowering of plants which have puzzled humanity throughout history. Other phenomena, such as lactation, metamorphosis, egg-hatching, healing, and tropism have been addressed. On a wider scale of time and space, biologists have studied domestication of animals and plants, the wide variety of living organisms (biodiversity), changes in living organisms over time (evolution), extinction, speciation, social behaviour among animals, etc.

More on [ Biology ]

PLoS Medicine: New Articles

Mandatory Disclosure of Pharmaceutical Industry-Funded Events for Health Professionals
Jane Robertson et al. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0000
David Henry and colleagues examine compliance with new disclosure requirements of Medicines Australia, the pharmaceutical industry representative body, and argue that they fall short and instead more comprehensive reporting standards are needed.
Impact Monitoring of the National Scale Up of Zinc Treatment for Childhood Diarrhea in Bangladesh: Repeat Ecologic Surveys
Charles P. Larson et al. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0000
Charles Larson and colleagues find that 23 months into a national campaign to scale up zinc treatment for diarrhea in children under age 5 years, only 10% of children with diarrhea in rural areas and 20%–25% in urban/municipal areas were getting the treatment.
Packages of Care for Dementia in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Martin J. Prince et al. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0000
In the fifth in a series of six articles on packages of care for mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries, Martin Prince and colleagues discuss the treatment of dementia.
PLoS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 6(10) October 2009
Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0000
Five years of access and activism. In April 2009, PLoS Medicine announced a "refocusing of the journal's priorities." Going forward, said the editors, the journal would prioritize papers addressing those diseases with the greatest global burden. It would also aim to be as broad a journal as possible, publishing papers that explored not just biological causes of illness, but also social, environmental, and political determinants of health. In this month's Editorial, as the journal marks its official five year anniversary, the editors look back over the last six months to assess the impact of the refocused scope. Image Credit: Adrian Boliston
Antiretroviral Strategies to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Striking a Balance between Efficacy, Feasibility, and Resistance
Dara A. Lehman et al. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0000
Dara Lehman and colleagues discuss a randomized trial that found that adding up to a week of twice-daily zidovudine+lamivudine to single-dose nevirapine reduces the risk of resistance in mothers and infants.
Packages of Care for Alcohol Use Disorders in Low- And Middle-Income Countries
Vivek Benegal et al. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0000
In the fourth in a series of six articles on packages of care for mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries, Vivek Benegal and colleagues discuss the treatment of alcohol use disorders.

EurekAlert! - Biology

Monell Center joins with CAS to host Beijing meeting on taste and smell research
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500
(Monell Chemical Senses Center) The Monell Center and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) are co-hosts of the Beijing International Meeting on Taste and Smell Research. Organized by Monell in collaboration with the CAS, the meeting will be the first international meeting on taste and smell to be held in China. The historic meeting will be held Nov. 15-17 at the Beijing Marriot Hotel City Wall.
Possible help in fight against muscle-wasting disease
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500
(University of Oregon) A compound already used to treat pneumonia could become a new therapy for an inherited muscular wasting disease. A five-member team of researchers from University of Oregon and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry report that pentamidine might be adapted to counter genetic splicing defects in RNA that lead to type 1 myotonic dystrophy.
Nitrogen loss threatens desert plant life, study shows
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500
(Cornell University) As the climate gets warmer, arid soils lose nitrogen as gas, reports a new Cornell study. That could lead to deserts with even less plant life than they sustain today, say the researchers.

Subscribe to Biology RSS feed