end of the 20th century and beginning of XXI, led to a string of discoveries. New discoveries in biology are raising a bunch of questions that make scientists think that everything is not so simple in this world. The search for truth is the main goal of researchers.
Discoveries in the biology of the XX century
In 1951, researcher Erwin Chargaffu came to one conclusion that radically changed the view of the structure of nucleic acids. Previously, it was believed that all nucleic acids are created from tetra-blocks, and therefore lack specificity. For three years, the scientist was engaged in research and, finally, was able to prove that nucleic acids obtained from different sources differ in their composition from each other - they are specific. The scientist built a model of DNA, which in its appearance looked like a double helix, when placed on a plane, it looked like a ladder. It was found that the structure of one single DNA branch determines the structure of its other branch - this is due to the fact that the base of the adjacent ones determines the sequence of other guides. Thus, a new property of DNA was defined - complementarity.
Further research was needed in the field molecular biology who would decipher the mechanism of DNA replication and transcription. Scientists suggested that the thread unwinds, its threads diverge, and then, in accordance with the rule of complementarity, a molecule is formed from each thread. A little later, experiments confirmed this hypothesis.
In 1954, Georgy Antonovich Gamov, based on a study by Erwin Chargaff, suggested that amino acids are encoded from a combination of three nucleotides.
In 1961, French scientists Jacques Monod and François Jacob recreated the circuit that regulates active genes. Scientists said that DNA has not only informational genes, but also operator genes and regulator genes.
New discoveries in the biology of the XXI century
In 2007, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsis-Madison and Kyoto University conducted an experiment that made adult skin cells behave like embryonic stem cells. The cell was able to transform into almost any kind. The financial framework can be discarded, because in this way, cells from human DNA can become an organ for transplantation. An organ grown in this way will not be rejected by the patient's body.
The Human Genome Study ended in 2006. This project has been called the most important research in biology. The main goal of the work is to determine the nucleotide sequence, as well as to study about 20,000 thousand human genes. Under the guidance of scientist James Watson, in 2000. part of the structure of the genome was presented, and in 2003. structure studies have been completed. Despite the fact that the "Human Genome" was officially completed in 2006, the analysis of some sections continues today. This study opens up new theories of evolution. The knowledge gained during the work is already actively used in medicine.
In the 20th century, biology as a science made great strides forward, and the beginning of the 21st century is already remarkable for discoveries. It can be assumed that new discoveries in biology will reveal many secrets and mysteries, which, perhaps, will be able to turn over all past knowledge and approved theories.
Ten significant discoveries of the first decade of the XXI century - video
Section 1. Biology is the science of life.
Plan
Topic 1. Biology as a science, its achievements, research methods, connections with other sciences. The role of biology in the life and practical activities of man.
Topic 2. Signs and properties of living things: cellular structure, chemical composition, metabolism and energy conversion, homeostasis, irritability, reproduction, development
Topic 3. The main levels of organization of wildlife: cellular, organismal, population-species, biogeocenotic
Biology as a science, its achievements, methods of cognition of living nature. The role of biology in the formation of the modern natural-science picture of the world.
Biology as a science.
Biology(from Greek. bios- a life, logos- word, science) is a complex of sciences about wildlife.
The subject of biology is all manifestations of life: the structure and functions of living beings, their diversity, origin and development, as well as interaction with the environment. The main task of biology as a science is to interpret all the phenomena of living nature on a scientific basis, while taking into account that the whole organism has properties that are fundamentally different from its components.
The term "biology" is found in the works of the German anatomists T. Roose (1779) and K.-F. Burdakh (1800), but it was not until 1802 that it was first used independently by J.-B. Lamarck and G.-R. Treviranus to refer to the science that studies living organisms.
Biological Sciences.
Currently, biology includes a number of sciences that can be systematized according to the following criteria: subject and predominant methods research and study the level of organization of wildlife. According to the subject of study, biological sciences are divided into bacteriology, botany, virology, zoology, mycology.
Botany is a biological science that comprehensively studies plants and the vegetation cover of the Earth. Zoology- a branch of biology, the science of diversity, structure, life, distribution and relationship of animals with the environment, their origin and development. Bacteriology- biological science that studies the structure and vital activity of bacteria, as well as their role in nature. Virology is the biological science that studies viruses. main object mycology are mushrooms, their structure and features of vital activity. Lichenology- biological science that studies lichens. Bacteriology, virology and some aspects of mycology are often considered within microbiology- section of biology, the science of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and microscopic fungi). Systematics, or taxonomy,- biological science that describes and classifies into groups all living and extinct creatures.
In turn, each of the listed biological sciences is subdivided into biochemistry, morphology, anatomy, physiology, embryology, genetics and taxonomy (of plants, animals or microorganisms). Biochemistry- this is the science of the chemical composition of living matter, chemical processes occurring in living organisms and underlying their vital activity. Morphology- biological science that studies the shape and structure of organisms, as well as the patterns of their development. In a broad sense, it includes cytology, anatomy, histology and embryology. Distinguish the morphology of animals and plants. Anatomy- This is a branch of biology (more precisely, morphology), a science that studies the internal structure and shape of individual organs, systems and the body as a whole. Plant anatomy is considered as part of botany, animal anatomy is considered as part of zoology, and human anatomy is a separate science. physiology- biological science that studies the processes of vital activity of plant and animal organisms, their individual systems, organs, tissues and cells. There are physiology of plants, animals and humans. Embryology (developmental biology)- a branch of biology, the science of the individual development of the organism, including the development of the embryo.
object genetics are patterns of heredity and variability. Currently, it is one of the most dynamically developing biological sciences.
According to the level of organization of living nature studied, molecular biology, cytology, histology, organology, biology of organisms and supraorganismal systems are distinguished. Molecular biology is one of the youngest sections of biology, a science that studies, in particular, the organization of hereditary information and protein biosynthesis. Cytology, or cell Biology,- biological science, the object of study of which are the cells of both unicellular and multicellular organisms. Histology- biological science, a section of morphology, the object of which is the structure of tissues of plants and animals. To the sphere organology include the morphology, anatomy and physiology of various organs and their systems.
Biology of organisms includes all sciences that deal with living organisms, for example, ethology the science of the behavior of organisms.
The biology of supraorganismal systems is subdivided into biogeography and ecology. The distribution of living organisms studies biogeography, whereas ecology- organization and functioning of supraorganismal systems of various levels: populations, biocenoses (communities), biogeocenoses (ecosystems) and the biosphere.
According to the prevailing research methods, one can single out descriptive (for example, morphology), experimental (for example, physiology) and theoretical biology.
Revealing and explaining the regularities of the structure, functioning and development of living nature at various levels of its organization is a task general biology. It includes biochemistry, molecular biology, cytology, embryology, genetics, ecology, evolutionary science and anthropology. evolutionary doctrine studies the causes, driving forces, mechanisms and general patterns of evolution of living organisms. One of its sections is paleontology- science, the subject of which are the fossil remains of living organisms. Anthropology- a section of general biology, the science of the origin and development of man as a biological species, as well as the diversity of populations of modern man and the patterns of their interaction.
Applied aspects of biology are assigned to the field of biotechnology, breeding and other rapidly developing sciences. Biotechnology called the biological science that studies the use of living organisms and biological processes in production. It is widely used in food (baking, cheese making, brewing, etc.) and pharmaceutical industries (obtaining antibiotics, vitamins), for water treatment, etc. Selection- the science of methods for creating breeds of domestic animals, varieties of cultivated plants and strains of microorganisms with the properties necessary for a person. Selection is also understood as the process of changing living organisms, carried out by man for his needs.
The progress of biology is closely related to the progress of other natural and exact sciences such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, etc. For example, microscopy, ultrasound research (ultrasound), tomography and other methods of biology are based on physical laws, and the study of the structure of biological molecules and processes occurring in living systems would be impossible without application of chemical and physical methods. The use of mathematical methods allows, on the one hand, to identify the presence of a regular connection between objects or phenomena, to confirm the reliability of the results obtained, and on the other hand, to model a phenomenon or process. IN Lately computer methods, such as modeling, are becoming increasingly important in biology. At the intersection of biology and other sciences, a number of new sciences have arisen, such as biophysics, biochemistry, bionics, etc.
Among all school disciplines, and just sciences, biology occupies a separate place. After all, this is the oldest, first and natural Science, interest in which arose with the advent of man himself and his evolution. In different time periods, the study of this discipline developed differently. Research in biology was carried out with the help of new methods. However, there are still those that were relevant from the very beginning and have not lost their significance. What are these ways of studying science and what is this discipline in general, we will consider in this article.
Biology as a science
If you delve into the etymology of the word "biology", then in translation from Latin it will literally sound like "the science of life." And indeed it is. This definition reflects the essence of the science under consideration. It is biology that studies the entire diversity of life on our planet, and if necessary, then beyond its borders.
There are several biological ones in which all representatives of the biomass are combined according to common morphological, anatomical, genetic and physiological characteristics. These are the kingdoms:
- Animals.
- Plants.
- Mushrooms.
- Viruses.
- Bacteria, or Prokaryotes.
Each of them is represented by a huge number of species and other taxonomic units, which once again emphasizes how diverse the nature of our planet is. as a science - to study them all, from birth to death. Also to reveal the mechanisms of evolution, the relationship with each other and man, nature itself.
Biology is just a general name that includes a whole family of subsciences and disciplines dealing with detailed research in the field of living beings and any manifestations of life.
As already mentioned above, the study of biology has been carried out by people since ancient times. Man was interested in how plants, animals, and himself are arranged. Observations were made on wildlife and conclusions were drawn, so factual material, the theoretical basis of science, was accumulated.
Achievements modern biology in general, they have stepped far ahead and allow you to look into the smallest and unimaginably complex structures, interfere with the course of natural processes and change their direction. In what ways has it been possible to achieve such results at all times?
Research methods in biology
To obtain knowledge, it is necessary to use various methods of obtaining it. This also applies to the biological sciences. Therefore, this discipline has its own set of measures that allow replenishing the methodological and factual piggy bank. This research methods in the school necessarily touches on this topic, because this question- the foundation. Therefore, these methods are discussed even in the lessons of natural history or biology in the fifth grade.
What are the research methods?
- Description.
- in biology.
- Experiment.
- Comparison.
- Modeling method.
- historical way.
- Upgraded options based on usage the latest achievements technology and modern equipment. For example: electron spectroscopy and microscopy, staining method, chromatography, and others.
All of them have always been important, and remain so today. However, among them there is one that appeared first and is still the most important.
Method of observation in biology
It is this version of the study that is decisive, the first and significant. What is observation? This is the acquisition of interesting information about the object with the help of the senses. That is, one can understand what Living being before you with the help of the organs of hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste.
This is how our ancestors learned to distinguish the elements of biomass. This is how research in biology continues to this day. After all, it is impossible to know how a caterpillar pupates and a butterfly emerges from a cocoon, if you do not observe it with your own eyes, fixing every moment of time.
And there are hundreds of such examples. All zoologists, mycologists, botanists, algologists and other scientists observe the selected object and receive complete information about their structure, lifestyle, interaction with the environment, features of physiological processes and other subtleties of organization.
Therefore, the method of observation in biology is considered the most important, historically the first and most significant. Closely next to it is another method of research - description. After all, it is not enough to observe, you also need to describe what you managed to see, that is, to fix the result. In the future, this will become a theoretical knowledge base about a particular object.
Let's take an example. If an ichthyologist needs to conduct research in the field of a particular type of fish, for example, pink perch, then he, first of all, studies the already existing theoretical base, which was compiled according to observations by scientists before him. After that, he proceeds to the observations himself and carefully records all the results obtained. After that, a series of experiments is carried out, and the results are compared with those that have already been available before. So it turns out the question of where, for example, these types of fish can spawn? What conditions do they need for this and how widely can they vary?
It is obvious that the method of observation in biology, as well as description, comparison and experiment are closely linked into a single complex - methods of studying wildlife.
Experiment
This method is typical not only for biological science, but also for chemistry, physics, astronomy and others. It allows you to visually verify one or another theoretically put forward assumption. With the help of an experiment, hypotheses are confirmed or refuted, theories are created and axioms are put forward.
It was experimentally that the circles of blood circulation in animals, respiration and photosynthesis in plants, as well as a number of other physiological vital processes were discovered.
Modeling and comparison
Comparison is a method that allows you to draw up an evolutionary line for each species. It is this method that underlies the receipt of information, on the basis of which the classification of species is compiled, the tree of life is built.
Modeling, on the other hand, is more mathematical, especially if we talk about the computer method of building a model. This method involves the creation of such situations over the study of the object that cannot be observed in natural conditions. For example, how will this or that drug affect the human body.
historical method
It underlies the identification of the origin and formation of each organism, its development and transformation in the course of evolution. Based on the data obtained, theories are built and hypotheses are put forward about the emergence of life on Earth, the development of each kingdom of nature.
Biology in 5th grade
It is very important to instill in students an interest in the science in question in time. Today textbooks "Biology. Grade 5" appear, observation in them is the main method of studying this subject. This is how the guys gradually master the full depth of this science, comprehend its meaning and importance.
In order for the lessons to be interesting and for children to instill interest in what is being studied, more time should be devoted to this particular method. After all, only when the student himself observes the behavior of cells and their structure through a microscope, he will be able to realize the full interest of this process and how subtle and important it all is. Therefore, according to modern requirements, an active approach to the study of the subject is the key to the successful assimilation of knowledge by students.
And if children reflect each process under study in a diary of observations in biology, then the trace of the subject will remain with them for life. This is how the world around is formed.
In-depth study of the subject
If we talk about specialized classes aimed at a deeper, more detailed study of science, then we should say about the most important thing. For such children, a special program of in-depth study of biology should be developed, which will be built on observations in the field (summer practice), as well as on ongoing experimental research. Children must make sure theoretical knowledge that is put into their heads. It is then that new discoveries, achievements and the birth of people of science are possible.
The role of biological education of schoolchildren
In general, children need to study biology, not only because nature must be loved, preserved and protected. But also because it significantly expands their horizons, allows them to understand the mechanisms of the flow of life processes, to know themselves from the inside and treat their health with care.
If you periodically tell the children about the achievements of modern biology and how it affects people's lives, they themselves will understand the importance and significance of science. They will be imbued with love for it, which means they will love its object - wildlife.
Achievements of modern biology
There are, of course, many of those. If we designate a time frame of at least fifty years, then we can list the following outstanding successes in the field of the science in question.
- Deciphering the genome of animals, plants and humans.
- Opening the mechanisms of cell division and death.
- Revealing the essence of the flow of genetic information in the developing organism.
- Cloning of living beings.
- Creation (synthesis) biologically active substances, drugs, antibiotics, antiviral drugs.
Similar achievements of modern biology allow a person to control some diseases of humans and animals, preventing them from developing. They allow solving many problems that overtake people in the 21st century: epidemics of terrible viruses, hunger, lack of drinking water, poor environmental conditions and others.
Scientists, their contribution to the development of biology .
ScientistHis contribution to the development of biology
Hippocrates 470-360 BC
The first scientist to establish a medical school. The ancient Greek physician formulated the doctrine of the four main types of physique and temperament, described some of the bones of the skull, vertebrae, internal organs, joints, muscles, large vessels.
Aristotle
One of the founders of biology as a science, for the first time generalized the biological knowledge accumulated by mankind before him. He created a taxonomy of animals, devoted many works to the origin of life.
Claudius Galen
130-200 AD
Ancient Roman scientist and physician. Laid the foundations of human anatomy. Physician, surgeon and philosopher. Galen made a significant contribution to the understanding of many scientific disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic.
Avicenna 980-1048
Outstanding scientist in the field of medicine. Author of many books and works on oriental medicine.The most famous and influential philosopher-scientist of the medieval Islamic world. From that time, many Arabic terms have been preserved in modern anatomical nomenclature.
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
He described many plants, studied the structure of the human body, the activity of the heart, and visual function. Made 800 accurate drawings of bones, muscles, heart and described them scientifically. His drawings are the first anatomically correct images of the human body, its organs, organ systems from nature.
Andreas Vesalius
1514-1564
Founder of descriptive anatomy. Created the work "On the structure of the human body."
Vesalius corrected over 200 errors of the canonized ancient author. He also corrected Aristotle's mistake that a man has 32 teeth and a woman 38. He classified teeth into incisors, canines and molars. He had to secretly get the corpses in the cemetery, since at that time the opening of a human corpse was forbidden by the church.
William Harvey
Opened the circles of blood circulation.
Harvey William (1578-1657), English physician, founder modern sciences physiology and embryology. Described the large and small circles of blood circulation. The merit of Harvey,
in particular, is that he
experimentally proved the existence of a closed
circle of blood circulation in humans, parts
which are the arteries and veins, and the heart -
pump. For the first time he expressed the idea that "every living thing comes from an egg."
Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778
Linnaeus - the creator of a unified system of classification of flora and fauna, in which the knowledge of the entire previous period of development was generalized and largely streamlined . Among the main merits of Linnaeus is the introduction of precise terminology in the description of biological objects, the introduction into active use establishing a clear relationship between .
Carl Ernst Baer
Professor of the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy. He discovered the egg in mammals, described the blastula stage, studied the embryogenesis of the chicken, established the similarity of the embryos of higher and lower animals, the theory of the consistent appearance in embryogenesis of signs of type, class, order, etc. Studying intrauterine development, he found that the embryos of all animals in the early stages of development are similar. Founder of embryology, formulated the law of germline similarity (established the main types of embryonic development).
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Biologist who created the first holistic theory of the evolution of the living world.Lamarck coined the term "biology" (1802).Lamarck owns two laws of evolution:
1. Vitalism. Living organisms are governed by an internal desire for improvement. Changes in conditions immediately bring about changes in habits, and through exercise the corresponding organs are changed.
2. Acquired changes are inherited.
Georges Cuvier
Founder of paleontology - the science of fossil animals and plants.The author of the “catastrophe theory”: after catastrophic events that destroyed animals, new species arose, but time passed, and a catastrophe occurred again, leading to the extinction of living organisms, but nature revived life, and well adapted to new conditions appeared environment species, then again perished during a terrible catastrophe.
T. Schwann and M. Schleiden
C. Darwin
1809-1882
Created the theory of evolution, evolutionary doctrine.The essence of evolutionary teaching lies in the following basic provisions:
All kinds of living creatures that inhabit the Earth have never been created by someone.
Arising naturally, organic forms were slowly and gradually transformed and improved in accordance with the surrounding conditions.
The transformation of species in nature is based on such properties of organisms as heredity and variability, as well as natural selection constantly occurring in nature. Natural selection carried out through a complex interaction of organisms with each other and with factors of inanimate nature; this relationship Darwin called the struggle for existence.
The result of evolution is the adaptability of organisms to the conditions of their habitat and the diversity of species in nature.
G. Mendel
1822-1884
The founder of genetics as a science.
1 law
:
Uniformity
first generation hybrids. When crossing two homozygous organisms belonging to different pure lines and differing from each other in one pair of alternative manifestations of the trait, the entire first generation of hybrids (F1) will be uniform and will carry the manifestation of the trait of one of the parents.
2 law
:
Split
signs. When two heterozygous descendants of the first generation are crossed with each other in the second generation, splitting is observed in a certain numerical ratio: according to the phenotype 3:1, according to the genotype 1:2:1.
3 law: Law independent succession
. When two homozygous individuals are crossed, differing from each other in two (or more) pairs of alternative traits, the genes and their corresponding traits are inherited independently of each other and combined in all possible combinations.
Karl Maksimovich
Baer
Founder of comparative embryology. Baer established the similarity of embryos of higher and lower , the consistent appearance in embryogenesis of signs of a type, class, order, etc.; described the development of all major organs of vertebrates.
Nikolai Alekseevich Severtsov
He paid special attention to the study of birds; he was one of the greatest ornithologists of his time.
A.I. Oparin
Theory of the origin of life on Earth. "On the origin of life", in which he proposed the theory of the origin of life from a broth of organic substances. In the middle of the 20th century, complex organic matter when passing electric charges through a mixture of gases and vapors, which hypothetically coincides with the composition of the ancient Earth's atmosphere.
Louis Pasteur
Founder of microbiology. Developed vaccination methods against contagious diseases. (Anthrax, rubella, rabies)
S.G. Navashin
Discovered double fertilization in plants
R. Koch 1843-1910
One of the founders of microbiology. In 1882, Koch reported his discovery of the causative agent of tuberculosis, for which he was awarded Nobel Prize and world fame. In 1883, another classic work by Koch was published - on the causative agent of cholera. This outstanding success was achieved by him as a result of studying cholera epidemics in Egypt and India.
D. I. Ivanovsky 1864-1920
Russian plant physiologist and microbiologist, founder of virology. Discovered viruses.
He established the presence of filterable viruses, which were the causes of the disease, along with microbes visible under a microscope. This gave rise to a new branch of science - virology, which developed rapidly in the 20th century.
I. Mechnikov
1845-1916
Laid the foundations of immunology.Russian biologist and pathologist, one of the founders of comparative pathology, evolutionary embryology and domestic microbiology, immunology, creator of the theory of phagocytosis and the theory of immunity, creator scientific school, corresponding member (1883), honorary member (1902) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Together with N. F. Gamaleya, he founded (1886) the first bacteriological station in Russia. Opened (1882) the phenomenon of phagocytosis. In the works "Immunity in infectious diseases" (1901) he outlined phagocytic theory immunity. Created the theory of the origin of multicellular organisms.
L. Pasteur 1822-1895
Laid the foundations of immunology.
L. Pasteur is the founder of scientific immunology, although even before him the method of preventing smallpox by infecting people with cowpox, developed by the English physician E. Jenner, was known. However, this method has not been extended to the prevention of other diseases.
I. Sechenov
1829-1905
Physiologist. Laid the foundations for the study of higher nervous activity. Sechenov discovered the so-called central inhibition - special mechanisms in the brain of a frog that suppress or depress reflexes. This was a completely new phenomenon, which was called "Sechenov's inhibition."The phenomenon of inhibition discovered by Sechenov made it possible to establish that all nervous activity consists of the interaction of two processes - excitation and inhibition.
I. Pavlov 1849-1936
Physiologist. He laid the foundations for the study of higher nervous activity. Created the doctrine of conditioned reflexes.Further, the ideas of I.M. Sechenov were developed in the works of I.P. Pavlov, who discovered the ways of objective pilot study functions of the cortex, developed a method for developing conditioned reflexes and created the doctrine of higher nervous activity. Pavlov in his writings introduced the division of reflexes into unconditioned ones, which are carried out by congenital, hereditarily fixed nerve pathways, and conditional, which are carried out through nervous connections that are formed in the process of an individual life of a person or animal.
Hugode
Frieze
Created the mutation theory.Hugo de Vries (1848–1935) - Dutch botanist and geneticist, one of the founders of the theory of variability and evolution, conducted the first systematic studies of the mutation process. He studied the phenomenon of plasmolysis (reduction of cells in a solution whose concentration is higher than the concentration of their contents) and eventually developed a method for determining the osmotic pressure in a cell. Introduced the concept of "isotonic solution".
T. Morgan 1866-1943
Created the chromosome theory of heredity.
The main object that T. Morgan and his students worked with was the Drosophila fruit fly, which has a diploid set of 8 chromosomes. Experiments have shown that genes that are on the same chromosome during meiosis fall into one gamete, that is, they are inherited linked. This phenomenon is called Morgan's law. It was also shown that each gene in the chromosome has a strictly defined place - a locus.
V. I. Vernadsky
1863-1945
He founded the doctrine of the biosphere.Vernadsky's ideas played an outstanding role in the formation of the modern scientific picture of the world. At the center of his natural science and philosophical interests is the development of a holistic doctrine of the biosphere, living matter (organizing the earth's shell) and the evolution of the biosphere into the noosphere, in which the human mind and activity, scientific thought become the determining factor in development, a powerful force comparable in its impact on nature with geological processes. Vernadsky's doctrine of the relationship between nature and society had a strong influence on the formation of modern environmental consciousness.
1884-1963
Developed the doctrine of the factors of evolution.He owns numerous works on questions of evolutionary morphology, on the study of the laws of animal growth, on questions about the factors and laws of the evolutionary process. A number of works are devoted to the history of development and comparative anatomy. He proposed his theory of the growth of animal organisms, which is based on the idea of the inverse relationship between the growth rate of an organism and the rate of its differentiation. In a number of studies he developed the theory of stabilizing selection as an essential factor in evolution. Since 1948 he has been studying the origin of terrestrial vertebrates.
J. Watson (1928) and F. Crick (1916-2004)
1953 Established the structure of DNA.James Dewey Watson - American molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist; He is best known for his participation in the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
After successfully graduating from the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson spent some time doing research in chemistry with the biochemist Herman Kalkar in Copenhagen. He later moved to the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where he first met his future colleague and comrade Francis Crick.
Most important events in the field of biology, which influenced the entire course of its further development, are: the establishment of the molecular structure of DNA and its role in the transmission of information in living matter (F. Crick, J. Watson, M. Wilkins); decoding genetic code(R. Holly, H.-G. Koran, M. Nirenberg); the discovery of the structure of the gene and the genetic regulation of protein synthesis (A. M. Lvov, F. Jacob, J.-L. Monod, and others); formulation of the cell theory (M. Schleiden, T. Schwann, R. Virchow, K. Baer); study of the laws of heredity and variability (G. Mendel, G. de Vries, T. Morgan, etc.); formulation of the principles of modern taxonomy (K. Linnaeus), evolutionary theory(Ch. Darwin) and the doctrine of the biosphere (V.I. Vernadsky).
Significance of discoveries recent decades yet to be assessed, however, the most important achievements of biology have been recognized as: deciphering the genome of humans and other organisms, determining the mechanisms for controlling the flow of genetic information in the cell and the developing organism, the mechanisms for regulating cell division and death, cloning of mammals, as well as the discovery of causative agents of "mad cow disease" ( prions).
The work on the "Human Genome" program, which was carried out simultaneously in several countries and was completed at the beginning of this century, led us to understand that a person has only about 25-30 thousand genes, but information from most of our DNA is not readable never, because it contains great amount plots and genes encoding traits that have lost their significance for humans (tail, body hair, etc.). In addition, a number of genes responsible for the development of hereditary diseases, as well as drug target genes, have been deciphered. but practical use the results obtained during the implementation of this program are postponed until the genomes of a significant number of people are decoded, and then it becomes clear what is their difference. These goals are set for a number of leading laboratories around the world working on the implementation of the ENCODE program.
Biological research is the foundation of medicine, pharmacy, and is widely used in agriculture, forestry, food industry and other branches of human activity.
It is well known that only the "green revolution" of the 1950s made it possible to at least partially solve the problem of providing the rapidly growing population of the Earth with food, and animal husbandry with feed through the introduction of new plant varieties and advanced technologies for their cultivation. Due to the fact that the genetically programmed properties of agricultural crops have almost been exhausted, the further solution of the food problem is associated with the widespread introduction of genetically modified organisms into production.
The production of many food products, such as cheeses, yogurts, sausages, bakery products, etc., is also impossible without the use of bacteria and fungi, which is the subject of biotechnology.
Knowledge of the nature of pathogens, the processes of the course of many diseases, the mechanisms of immunity, the laws of heredity and variability made it possible to significantly reduce mortality and even completely eradicate a number of diseases, such as smallpox. With the help of the latest achievements of biological science, the problem of human reproduction is also being solved. A significant part of modern medicines is produced on the basis of natural raw materials, as well as thanks to the success of genetic engineering, such as insulin, which is so necessary for patients with diabetes mellitus, which is mainly synthesized by bacteria that have transferred the corresponding gene.
Biological research is no less significant for the preservation of the environment and the diversity of living organisms, the threat of extinction of which casts doubt on the existence of mankind.
Highest value Among the achievements of biology is the fact that they even underlie the construction of neural networks and the genetic code in computer technology, and are also widely used in architecture and other industries. Without a doubt, the 21st century is the century of biology.
