BIOLOGY Origin of the word The word biology comes from two Greek words. Bios: means life Logos: means to study DEFINITION: Biology is the branch of natural science which deals with the study of living organism and different phenomenon of life. MAIN BANCHES OF BIOLOGY 1 ). MORPHOLOGY Morphos: means shape or form Logos: means study “This is the branch of biology which deals with the study of external characteristics of plants and animals”. 2 ). ANATOMY Ana: means up Tome: means to cut “Anatomy is the branch of biology which deals with the study of internal structure or organs of organism. In plant it deals with the arrangement of different types of tissue in root, stem, leaf etc”. 3 ). HISTOLOGY Histos: means tissue or web shape Logos: means to study “Histology is the branch of biology which deals with study of tissue of plants and animals under microscope”. 4 ). CYTOLOGY Kytos: means cell or hollow vessel Logos: means to study “Cytology is the branch of biology which deals with the study of structure, functions and composition of cell and cell organelles”. 5 ). PHYSIOLOGY Physis: means nature or function Logos: means to study “Physiology is the branch of biology which deals with the study of function and activities of various organs of an organism e.g. plants and animals”. 6 ). ECOLOGY Oikos: means environment Logos: means to study “Ecology is the branch of biology in which we study the relationship of organism with each other and with their non-living environment. It is also called environment biology”. 7 ). EMBRYOLOGY OR DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY Embryon: means embryo Logos: means to study “Embryology is the branch of biology in we study of progressive developmental changes which occur after zygote formation up to the formation of organism”. 8 ). TAXONOMY Taxis: means arrangement Noms: means laws related to naming “Taxonomy is the branch of biology which deals with the description, identification, classification and scientific naming of living organisms according to their similarities and dissimilarities”. 9 ). GENETICS Genesis: means origin “Genetic is the study of transformation of hereditary characters (traits) from parents to their offspring”. 10 ). PALAEOTOLOGY Palaios: means ancient Ontos: means organism Logos: means to study “Paleontology is the study of plants and animal’s fossils in the rocks.” It can further be divided into two branches. Paleobotany: The study of fossils of plants. Paleozoology: The study of fossils of animals. 11 ). BIOCHEMISTRY Bio: means life Chemistry: meaning study of chemicals “Biochemistry deals with the study of chemical reactions taking place in the living organism”. 12 ). MICROBIOLOGY Micro: means very small Bio: means life Logos: means to study “Microbiology deals with the study of microscopic organisms such as virus, bacteria, fungi and some protozoans”. 13 ). BIOTECNOLOGY Bio: means life Techno: means technical Logos: means to study “Biotechnology is the branch of biology which deals with the practical application of organisms and their components for the welfare of human beings”. BIOLOGICAL METHOD “A biological method is a scientific method used to resolve the problem rerated to or produced by a living organism”. STEPS OF BIOLOGICAL METHOD Biological method consists of following steps. 1). 1). Observation 2). Hypothesis 3). Deduction 4). Experimentation 5). Result 6). Law or theory OBSERVATION Observation are made to collect relevant information. For example: malaria was greatest killer disease. A French physician Laveran studied the blood of malaria patient under microscope and observed tiny creature “Plasmodium” in blood. 2). HYPOTHESIS Intelligent guess in the form of statement on the basis of observed facts or available information is called hypothesis. Hypothesis is made “Plasmodium is the cause of malaria”. 3). DEDUCTION Deduction is the logical explanation of a hypothesis. It does not require any type of experimentation. “If plasmodium causes malaria then all person having malaria should have plasmodium on their blood”. 4). EXPERIMENT Experiment are conducted to test the deduction (prediction) to find out whether or not the hypothesis is correct. For this purpose scientists perform two types of test. i). Control Group Control group means a group of healthy people. ii). Experimental Group Experimental group means a group of malaria patients. 5). RESULT It was proved from above experiment that malaria patients had plasmodium in their blood whereas blood of a healthy person was free of plasmodium. The result verifies the hypothesis .i.e. plasmodium is cause of malaria. 6). THEORY As more and more evidences come to hand in the favor of hypothesis gains increasing acceptance and eventually is promoted to the rank of a theory. A theory is a set of scientific assumptions consistent with one other and supported by evidence, but not fully proved e.g., theory of evolution.