Why Study Biology?

Algoma U Biology

Overview

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Study Biology:

10. Scientists estimate that there are between 5- and 40-million species on earth. We’ve identified between 1- and 2-million. That means we’ve got as many as 38 million to go (as few as 3 million). Regardless of the actual number of species out there, the reality is that we’re aware of less than half of the species on Earth. This makes biology the most mysterious discipline left on this planet. That’s pretty cool.

9. Statistics show that 54% of men think about sex every day, or several times a day. Contrastingly, this is true for 19% of women. Studying biology won’t change this, but it can help you understand why this is the case (Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, Michaels, 1994).

8. Biology has shown us that most large ocean fish species have declined in population size by 90% in the last 50 years (Myers & Worm 2003). Oceanic plankton, which form the base of the largest food chain on Earth, have been in decline for 50 years (Boyce et al. 2010). Coral reefs, which are the tropical rainforests of the sea, are dying due to ocean acidification (Anthony et al. 2008). Some estimates suggest that the current rate of species extinction is between 100 and 1000 times the historical rate observed in the fossil record. Even if this is greatly overestimated, the rate is shocking. This is all very depressing, but that doesn’t mean that biology isn’t doing some of the most important work going on out there.

7. On a lighter note, in no other field of study will you find such whimsical names as Mad-dog Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellate), Hairy Beard-tongue (Penstemon hirsutus), Naked Ladies (Amaryllis belladonna), Silybum marianum (milk thistle), Parus major and Amorphophallus titanum (we’ll let you look up the common names for those two).

6. Biologists know the answers to such perennial questions as: “Does a bear . . . you know . . . in the woods?” Of course they do. If they didn’t, we’d never find raspberry or blueberry bushes there!

5. Life is still more complicated than anything humans have ever built. In fact, many of our most significant inventions have come from reverse-engineering what we see in biological systems. Flying is the most obvious example here, but counter-current air exchange systems that reduce heat loss in our houses are another, less well-known one. Want to be an inventor? Consider biology.

4. We are bombarded with information about the world on a daily basis. The scientific method is a powerful tool for assessing this information. In biology, you learn how to use this method not only to study biology, but to tackle the challenges of every-day life.

3. If vampires existed, biologists would study them. I know what you’re thinking, biologists are only supposed to study living things, and vampires are technically dead. But death is a part of life. It’s just usually the last part.

2. Biological research has the potential to help us address global challenges. Plant breeding and genetic modification can be used to increase the world’s food supply. Approximately 70% of new medicines are derived from chemicals produced naturally by plants, particularly from tropical forests. The very nature of the idea of “Renewable Resources” necessitates that at root, they be biological.

1. You are biological! (Or you’re a robot, in which case you’ve probably finally enslaved us humans, so never mind).

 

References:

1. Laumann, E., Gagnon, J.H., Michael, R.T., and Michaels, S. The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States. 1994. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (Also reported in the companion volume, Michael et al, Sex in America: A Definitive Survey, 1994).

2. Myers, R., Worm, B. 2003. Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities. Nature. 423: 280-283.

3. Boyce, D. G., Lewis, M. R., Worm, B. 2010. Global phytoplankton decline over the past century. 466: 591-596.

4. Anthony, K.R.N., D.I. Kline, G. Diaz-Pulido, S. Dove, and O. Hoegh-Guldberg. 2008. Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105(45):17,442–17,446.