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The life sciences comprise the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms – such as microorganisms, plants, animals, and human beings – as well as related considerations like bioethics. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of specializations and interdisciplinary fields.

Some life sciences focus on a specific type of life. For example, zoology is the study of animals, while botany is the study of plants. Other life sciences focus on aspects common to all or many life forms, such as anatomy and genetics. Yet other fields are interested in technological advances involving living things, such as bio-engineering. Another major, though more specific, branch of life sciences involves understanding the mind – neuroscience.

The life sciences are helpful in improving the quality and standard of life. They have applications in health, agriculture, medicine, and the pharmaceutical and food science industries.

The following is an incomplete list of as well as topics of study in the life sciences, in which there is considerable overlap between many entries:

Topics of study

Affective neuroscience

Affective neuroscience is the study of the neural mechanisms of emotion. This interdisciplinary field combines neuroscience with the psychological study of personality, emotion, and mood.

Anatomy

Anatomy is the study of the body plan of animals. In some of its facets, anatomy is closely related to embryology, comparative anatomy and comparative embryology, through common roots in evolution. Human anatomy is important in medicine.

The discipline of anatomy is subdivided into gross (or macroscopic) anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of structures that can, when suitably presented or dissected, be seen by unaided vision with the naked eye. Microscopic anatomy is the study of structures on a microscopic scale, including histology (the study of tissues) and cytology (the study of cells).

The history of anatomy is characterized by a continual development in understanding of the functions of the organs and structures of the human body. Methods have also improved dramatically, advancing from examination of animals through dissection of cadavers (dead human bodies) to 20th century techniques including X-ray, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging.

Astrobiology

Biochemistry

Biocomputers

Biocontrol

Biodynamics

Bioinformatics

Biology

Biomaterials

Biomechanics

Biomedical science

Biomedicine

Biomonitoring

Biophysics

Biopolymers

Biotechnology

Botany

Cell biology

Cognitive neuroscience

Computational neuroscience

Conservation biology

Developmental biology

Ecology

Environmental science

Ethology

Evolutionary biology

Evolutionary genetics

Food science

Genetics

Genomics

Health sciences

Immunogenetics

Immunology

Immunotherapy

Kinesiology

Marine biology

Medical devices

Medical imaging

Medical Sciences

Medical Social Work

Microbiology

Molecular biology

Neuroethology

Neuroscience

Oncology

Optogenetics

Optometry

Parasitology

Pathology

Pharmacogenomics

Pharmaceutical sciences

Pharmacology

Physiology

Population dynamics

Proteomics

Psychiatric Social Work

Psychology

Sports science

Structural biology

Systems biology

Zoology

Scientific societies

• Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS)
• European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
• International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS)
• Life Sciences Switzerland

See also

• List of biology disciplines
• Outline of biology
• Outline of health science

• Science portal
• Biology portal
• Ecology portal
• Botany portal

References

1. "Life Sciences". Empire State Development Corporation. Government of New York. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
2. Panksepp J (1992). "A role for "affective neuroscience" in understanding stress: the case of separation distress circuitry". In Puglisi-Allegra S, Oliverio A (ed.). Psychobiology of Stress. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic. pp. 41–58. ISBN 0-7923-0682-1.
3. "Introduction page, "Anatomy of the Human Body". Henry Gray. 20th edition. 1918". Archived from the original on 16 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.

Further reading

• Magner, Lois N. (2002). A history of the life sciences (3rd ed., rev. and expanded. ed.). New York: M. Dekker. ISBN 0824708245.

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