Modern Biology Section 27 Review Plants and People

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you lot will be able to practice the post-obit:

• Identify the shared characteristics of the natural sciences
• Summarize the steps of the scientific method
• Compare anterior reasoning with deductive reasoning
• Depict the goals of bones science and applied science

Figure one.2 Formerly called blue-greenish algae, these (a) cyanobacteria, magnified 300x under a light microscope, are some of Earth'due south oldest life forms. These (b) stromatolites along the shores of Lake Thetis in Western Australia are ancient structures formed by layering cyanobacteria in shallow waters. (credit a: modification of work by NASA; credit b: modification of work by Ruth Ellison; scale-bar data from Matt Russell)

What is biological science? In uncomplicated terms, biology is the report of life. This is a very broad definition because the scope of biology is vast. Biologists may study anything from the microscopic or submicroscopic view of a cell to ecosystems and the whole living planet (Figure one.2). Listening to the daily news, you will chop-chop realize how many aspects of biology we discuss every twenty-four hour period. For instance, recent news topics include Escherichia coli (Figure 1.3) outbreaks in spinach and Salmonella contagion in peanut butter. Other subjects include efforts toward finding a cure for AIDS, Alzheimer's illness, and cancer. On a global calibration, many researchers are committed to finding ways to protect the planet, solve environmental issues, and reduce the effects of climatic change. All of these diverse endeavors are related to different facets of the field of study of biology.

Effigy 1.3 Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, in this scanning electron micrograph, are normal residents of our digestive tracts that aid in arresting vitamin K and other nutrients. However, virulent strains are sometimes responsible for disease outbreaks. (credit: Eric Erbe, digital colorization by Christopher Pooley, both of USDA, ARS, EMU)

The Process of Science

Biology is a science, but what exactly is science? What does the study of biological science share with other scientific disciplines? We can define science (from the Latin scientia, meaning "cognition") every bit noesis that covers general truths or the functioning of general laws, especially when acquired and tested by the scientific method. It becomes clear from this definition that applying scientific method plays a major part in science. The scientific method is a method of research with defined steps that include experiments and careful observation.

We will examine scientific method steps in detail later, only one of the virtually of import aspects of this method is the testing of hypotheses past ways of repeatable experiments. A hypothesis is a suggested explanation for an event, which one can test. Although using the scientific method is inherent to science, it is inadequate in determining what science is. This is because it is relatively easy to employ the scientific method to disciplines such equally physics and chemistry, only when information technology comes to disciplines like archaeology, psychology, and geology, the scientific method becomes less applicable as repeating experiments becomes more than difficult.

These areas of study are still sciences, withal. Consider archaeology—even though one cannot perform repeatable experiments, hypotheses may still be supported. For instance, archaeologists tin hypothesize that an aboriginal civilization existed based on finding a piece of pottery. They could brand farther hypotheses about various characteristics of this civilisation, which could be correct or simulated through continued support or contradictions from other findings. A hypothesis may become a verified theory. A theory is a tested and confirmed explanation for observations or phenomena. Therefore, nosotros may be amend off to define science every bit fields of study that attempt to comprehend the nature of the universe.

Natural Sciences

What would you wait to see in a museum of natural sciences? Frogs? Plants? Dinosaur skeletons? Exhibits about how the encephalon functions? A planetarium? Gems and minerals? Maybe all of the above? Scientific discipline includes such various fields as astronomy, biological science, computer sciences, geology, logic, physics, chemical science, and mathematics (Figure 1.4). All the same, scientists consider those fields of scientific discipline related to the physical earth and its phenomena and processes natural sciences. Thus, a museum of natural sciences might contain any of the items listed to a higher place.

Effigy 1.iv The diversity of scientific fields includes astronomy, biology, figurer science, geology, logic, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and many other fields. (credit: "Image Editor"/Flickr)

There is no complete agreement when it comes to defining what the natural sciences include, notwithstanding. For some experts, the natural sciences are astronomy, biology, chemistry, globe science, and physics. Other scholars choose to divide natural sciences into life sciences, which study living things and include biological science, and physical sciences, which report nonliving matter and include astronomy, geology, physics, and chemical science. Some disciplines such equally biophysics and biochemistry build on both life and physical sciences and are interdisciplinary. Some refer to natural sciences as "difficult science" because they rely on the employ of quantitative data. Social sciences that report guild and human behavior are more likely to utilise qualitative assessments to drive investigations and findings.

Non surprisingly, the natural science of biology has many branches or subdisciplines. Cell biologists study cell structure and function, while biologists who study anatomy investigate the structure of an entire organism. Those biologists studying physiology, however, focus on the internal functioning of an organism. Some areas of biology focus on only particular types of living things. For example, botanists explore plants, while zoologists specialize in animals.

Scientific Reasoning

1 thing is mutual to all forms of science: an ultimate goal "to know." Curiosity and inquiry are the driving forces for the development of science. Scientists seek to understand the world and the fashion it operates. To do this, they use two methods of logical thinking: anterior reasoning and deductive reasoning.

Inductive reasoning is a course of logical thinking that uses related observations to arrive at a general determination. This type of reasoning is common in descriptive science. A life scientist such as a biologist makes observations and records them. These information can exist qualitative or quantitative, and 1 tin can supplement the raw data with drawings, pictures, photos, or videos. From many observations, the scientist can infer conclusions (inductions) based on evidence. Inductive reasoning involves formulating generalizations inferred from careful observation and analyzing a big amount of data. Brain studies provide an example. In this blazon of research, scientists observe many live brains while people are engaged in a specific activity, such as viewing images of food. The scientist then predicts the part of the brain that "lights upward" during this action to exist the function decision-making the response to the selected stimulus, in this case, images of food. Excess absorption of radioactive sugar derivatives by active areas of the brain causes the various areas to "light up". Scientists apply a scanner to discover the resultant increase in radioactivity. Then, researchers can stimulate that part of the brain to see if similar responses result.

Deductive reasoning or deduction is the blazon of logic used in hypothesis-based science. In deductive reasoning, the pattern of thinking moves in the opposite direction equally compared to anterior reasoning. Deductive reasoning is a form of logical thinking that uses a full general principle or police to predict specific results. From those general principles, a scientist can deduce and predict the specific results that would be valid every bit long as the general principles are valid. Studies in climate change tin can illustrate this type of reasoning. For example, scientists may predict that if the climate becomes warmer in a particular region, so the distribution of plants and animals should alter.

Both types of logical thinking are related to the two main pathways of scientific written report: descriptive scientific discipline and hypothesis-based science. Descriptive (or discovery) science, which is usually inductive, aims to observe, explore, and observe, while hypothesis-based science, which is usually deductive, begins with a specific question or problem and a potential answer or solution that i tin can test. The boundary between these two forms of study is often blurred, and most scientific endeavors combine both approaches. The fuzzy boundary becomes credible when thinking well-nigh how hands observation can atomic number 82 to specific questions. For example, a gentleman in the 1940s observed that the burr seeds that stuck to his wearing apparel and his dog'south fur had a tiny hook structure. On closer inspection, he discovered that the burrs' gripping device was more reliable than a zipper. He somewhen experimented to discover the best material that acted similarly, and produced the hook-and-loop fastener popularly known today equally Velcro. Descriptive science and hypothesis-based science are in continuous dialogue.

The Scientific Method

Biologists study the living world by posing questions about it and seeking scientific discipline-based responses. Known as scientific method, this approach is mutual to other sciences besides. The scientific method was used fifty-fifty in ancient times, but England'south Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) first documented it (Figure 1.5). He set upwards inductive methods for scientific research. The scientific method is non used only by biologists; researchers from almost all fields of report can apply it every bit a logical, rational problem-solving method.

Effigy 1.five Historians credit Sir Francis Salary (1561–1626) as the offset to define the scientific method. (credit: Paul van Somer)

The scientific process typically starts with an ascertainment (often a problem to solve) that leads to a question. Permit'southward think about a simple problem that starts with an observation and apply the scientific method to solve the problem. One Monday morning, a pupil arrives at course and chop-chop discovers that the classroom is likewise warm. That is an observation that likewise describes a trouble: the classroom is too warm. The student then asks a question: "Why is the classroom so warm?"

Proposing a Hypothesis

Remember that a hypothesis is a suggested explanation that one can exam. To solve a problem, one can propose several hypotheses. For instance, one hypothesis might be, "The classroom is warm because no one turned on the ac." Still, there could be other responses to the question, and therefore one may advise other hypotheses. A 2d hypothesis might be, "The classroom is warm because there is a power failure, and so the air conditioning doesn't piece of work."

One time one has selected a hypothesis, the student can make a prediction. A prediction is like to a hypothesis but it typically has the format "If . . . then . . . ." For example, the prediction for the start hypothesis might be, "If the student turns on the air conditioning, and so the classroom will no longer be too warm."

Testing a Hypothesis

A valid hypothesis must be testable. Information technology should as well be falsifiable, meaning that experimental results tin can disprove it. Importantly, science does not claim to "prove" annihilation because scientific understandings are ever subject to modification with farther data. This pace—openness to disproving ideas—is what distinguishes sciences from not-sciences. The presence of the supernatural, for instance, is neither testable nor falsifiable. To exam a hypothesis, a researcher volition deport one or more than experiments designed to eliminate one or more than of the hypotheses. Each experiment will have one or more than variables and i or more controls. A variable is any part of the experiment that tin vary or change during the experiment. The control group contains every characteristic of the experimental group except it is not given the manipulation that the researcher hypothesizes. Therefore, if the experimental group's results differ from the control grouping, the difference must be due to the hypothesized manipulation, rather than some exterior factor. Wait for the variables and controls in the examples that follow. To test the first hypothesis, the student would notice out if the ac is on. If the ac is turned on but does not piece of work, there should be another reason, and the student should reject this hypothesis. To exam the second hypothesis, the student could check if the lights in the classroom are functional. If so, there is no power failure and the student should decline this hypothesis. The students should test each hypothesis by carrying out appropriate experiments. Be enlightened that rejecting one hypothesis does not make up one's mind whether or not i can accept the other hypotheses. It simply eliminates one hypothesis that is not valid (Effigy 1.half-dozen). Using the scientific method, the student rejects the hypotheses that are inconsistent with experimental information.

While this "warm classroom" example is based on observational results, other hypotheses and experiments might accept clearer controls. For instance, a student might attend course on Mon and realize she had difficulty concentrating on the lecture. One observation to explicate this occurrence might be, "When I eat breakfast before grade, I am improve able to pay attending." The student could then design an experiment with a control to test this hypothesis.

In hypothesis-based scientific discipline, researchers predict specific results from a general premise. We call this type of reasoning deductive reasoning: deduction proceeds from the full general to the item. However, the reverse of the process is also possible: sometimes, scientists attain a full general decision from a number of specific observations. We call this type of reasoning inductive reasoning, and it gain from the particular to the full general. Researchers often use inductive and deductive reasoning in tandem to accelerate scientific cognition (Figure 1.7). In recent years a new approach of testing hypotheses has adult equally a result of an exponential growth of information deposited in diverse databases. Using computer algorithms and statistical analyses of data in databases, a new field of and so-called "data inquiry" (as well referred to as "in silico" research) provides new methods of data analyses and their estimation. This will increase the demand for specialists in both biological science and estimator science, a promising career opportunity.

Visual Connection

Visual Connection

Effigy i.half-dozen The scientific method consists of a series of well-divers steps. If a hypothesis is not supported by experimental data, one can propose a new hypothesis.

In the example below, the scientific method is used to solve an everyday problem. Lucifer the scientific method steps (numbered items) with the process of solving the everyday problem (lettered items). Based on the results of the experiment, is the hypothesis right? If it is incorrect, suggest some culling hypotheses.

1. Observation	a. At that place is something wrong with the electric outlet.
two. Question	b. If something is wrong with the outlet, my coffeemaker also won't work when plugged into information technology.
three. Hypothesis (reply)	c. My toaster doesn't toast my staff of life.
iv. Prediction	d. I plug my coffee maker into the outlet.
5. Experiment	e. My coffeemaker works.
6. Result	f. Why doesn't my toaster work?

Visual Connection

Visual Connection

Figure i.seven Scientists employ ii types of reasoning, inductive and deductive reasoning, to accelerate scientific noesis. Equally is the example in this case, the determination from inductive reasoning can often get the premise for deductive reasoning.

Determine if each of the following is an example of inductive or deductive reasoning.

1. All flying birds and insects take wings. Birds and insects flap their wings as they move through the air. Therefore, wings enable flying.
2. Insects generally survive mild winters better than harsh ones. Therefore, insect pests will go more problematic if global temperatures increase.
3. Chromosomes, the carriers of Dna, are distributed evenly between the daughter cells during cell division. Therefore, each daughter jail cell volition accept the aforementioned chromosome prepare as the mother jail cell.
4. Animals equally diverse as humans, insects, and wolves all exhibit social behavior. Therefore, social behavior must have an evolutionary advantage.

The scientific method may seem too rigid and structured. It is important to proceed in mind that, although scientists often follow this sequence, at that place is flexibility. Sometimes an experiment leads to conclusions that favor a change in approach. Often, an experiment brings entirely new scientific questions to the puzzle. Many times, science does not operate in a linear fashion. Instead, scientists continually draw inferences and make generalizations, finding patterns as their research gain. Scientific reasoning is more than complex than the scientific method alone suggests. Notice, too, that we can apply the scientific method to solving problems that aren't necessarily scientific in nature.

Two Types of Scientific discipline: Basic Science and Applied Scientific discipline

The scientific community has been debating for the final few decades most the value of unlike types of science. Is information technology valuable to pursue science for the sake of but gaining noesis, or does scientific knowledge just accept worth if nosotros tin use information technology to solving a specific problem or to bettering our lives? This question focuses on the differences between two types of scientific discipline: basic scientific discipline and engineering.

Basic science or "pure" science seeks to aggrandize noesis regardless of the short-term awarding of that noesis. It is not focused on developing a product or a service of immediate public or commercial value. The firsthand goal of basic science is cognition for noesis'southward sake, although this does not mean that, in the end, it may not result in a applied application.

In contrast, applied science or "applied science," aims to apply science to solve real-earth problems, making information technology possible, for instance, to ameliorate a crop yield, notice a cure for a particular illness, or salvage animals threatened by a natural disaster (Figure 1.8). In technology, the problem is usually defined for the researcher.

Effigy 1.8 After Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean area and Florida in 2017, thousands of babe squirrels similar this one were thrown from their nests. Thanks to practical scientific discipline, scientists knew how to rehabilitate the squirrel. (credit: audreyjm529, Flickr)

Some individuals may perceive applied science as "useful" and basic science as "useless." A question these people might pose to a scientist advocating knowledge conquering would be, "What for?" However, a conscientious await at the history of scientific discipline reveals that basic knowledge has resulted in many remarkable applications of great value. Many scientists think that a bones agreement of science is necessary before researchers develop an application, therefore, engineering science relies on the results that researchers generate through basic science. Other scientists recollect that it is time to movement on from basic science in club to discover solutions to actual problems. Both approaches are valid. Information technology is true that there are problems that demand immediate attention; notwithstanding, scientists would find few solutions without the assist of the wide cognition foundation that basic scientific discipline generates.

One example of how basic and applied scientific discipline tin work together to solve practical issues occurred after the discovery of Dna structure led to an agreement of the molecular mechanisms governing Dna replication. Dna strands, unique in every human, are in our cells, where they provide the instructions necessary for life. When DNA replicates, it produces new copies of itself, shortly before a cell divides. Understanding DNA replication mechanisms enabled scientists to develop laboratory techniques that researchers now utilise to place genetic diseases, pinpoint individuals who were at a crime scene, and determine paternity. Without bones science, it is unlikely that technology could be.

Another example of the link between basic and applied research is the Human Genome Project, a study in which researchers analyzed and mapped each man chromosome to determine the precise sequence of Dna subunits and each gene'southward exact location. (The factor is the bones unit of heredity represented by a specific DNA segment that codes for a functional molecule. An private's complete collection of genes is their genome.) Researchers have studied other less complex organisms as role of this project in gild to gain a improve understanding of human chromosomes. The Human Genome Project (Figure 1.9) relied on basic research with uncomplicated organisms and, later, with the human genome. An important end goal eventually became using the information for applied research, seeking cures and early diagnoses for genetically related diseases.

Figure one.9 The Homo Genome Projection was a 13-year collaborative effort amid researchers working in several dissimilar scientific discipline fields. Researchers completed the projection, which sequenced the entire human genome, in 2003. (credit: the U.S. Section of Energy Genome Programs (http://genomics.free energy.gov)

While scientists normally carefully program research efforts in both basic science and engineering science, note that some discoveries are made past serendipity, that is, by ways of a fortunate accident or a lucky surprise. Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when he accidentally left a petri dish of Staphylococcus bacteria open. An unwanted mold grew on the dish, killing the bacteria. Fleming'south curiosity to investigate the reason backside the bacterial death, followed by his experiments, led to the discovery of the antibiotic penicillin, which is produced by the fungus Penicillium. Even in the highly organized globe of science, luck—when combined with an observant, curious mind—can lead to unexpected breakthroughs.

Reporting Scientific Piece of work

Whether scientific research is basic scientific discipline or applied scientific discipline, scientists must share their findings in guild for other researchers to expand and build upon their discoveries. Collaboration with other scientists—when planning, conducting, and analyzing results—is of import for scientific research. For this reason, important aspects of a scientist's work are communicating with peers and disseminating results to peers. Scientists tin share results by presenting them at a scientific coming together or conference, but this arroyo can reach simply the select few who are present. Instead, most scientists present their results in peer-reviewed manuscripts that are published in scientific journals. Peer-reviewed manuscripts are scientific papers that a scientist's colleagues or peers review. These colleagues are qualified individuals, often experts in the same enquiry expanse, who judge whether or not the scientist's work is suitable for publication. The process of peer review helps to ensure that the research in a scientific paper or grant proposal is original, pregnant, logical, and thorough. Grant proposals, which are requests for research funding, are also field of study to peer review. Scientists publish their work and then other scientists tin reproduce their experiments under like or different atmospheric condition to expand on the findings.

A scientific newspaper is very different from creative writing. Although inventiveness is required to design experiments, there are fixed guidelines when it comes to presenting scientific results. First, scientific writing must be brief, concise, and accurate. A scientific paper needs to be succinct only detailed enough to let peers to reproduce the experiments.

The scientific newspaper consists of several specific sections—introduction, materials and methods, results, and discussion. This structure is sometimes called the "IMRaD" format. There are usually acknowledgment and reference sections as well as an abstruse (a concise summary) at the beginning of the newspaper. There might exist boosted sections depending on the blazon of paper and the periodical where information technology volition be published. For example, some review papers require an outline.

The introduction starts with brief, but broad, background data almost what is known in the field. A good introduction also gives the rationale of the work. Information technology justifies the work carried out and also briefly mentions the stop of the newspaper, where the researcher will present the hypothesis or research question driving the enquiry. The introduction refers to the published scientific work of others and therefore requires citations post-obit the style of the journal. Using the work or ideas of others without proper citation is plagiarism.

The materials and methods section includes a complete and accurate description of the substances the researchers use, and the method and techniques they employ to gather data. The description should be thorough enough to allow some other researcher to repeat the experiment and obtain like results, but it does not accept to exist verbose. This department will also include information on how the researchers made measurements and the types of calculations and statistical analyses they used to examine raw data. Although the materials and methods section gives an authentic clarification of the experiments, it does non discuss them.

Some journals require a results section followed by a discussion section, but it is more mutual to combine both. If the journal does non allow combining both sections, the results section simply narrates the findings without whatsoever further interpretation. The researchers present results with tables or graphs, simply they do not present duplicate data. In the word department, the researchers volition interpret the results, depict how variables may be related, and attempt to explain the observations. It is indispensable to conduct an extensive literature search to put the results in the context of previously published scientific research. Therefore, researchers include proper citations in this section likewise.

Finally, the conclusion section summarizes the importance of the experimental findings. While the scientific paper nigh certainly answers 1 or more scientific questions that the researchers stated, any good inquiry should atomic number 82 to more questions. Therefore, a well-washed scientific paper allows the researchers and others to continue and expand on the findings.

Review articles practise non follow the IMRAD format considering they exercise not present original scientific findings, or primary literature. Instead, they summarize and comment on findings that were published equally primary literature and typically include extensive reference sections.

Scientific Ethics

Scientists must ensure that their efforts do not crusade undue damage to humans, animals, or the environment. They as well must ensure that their research and communications are free of bias and that they properly remainder financial, legal, safety, replicability, and other considerations. All scientists -- and many people in other fields -- accept these upstanding obligations, merely those in the life sciences take a particular obligation considering their enquiry may involve people or other living things. Bioethics is thus an of import and continually evolving field, in which researchers collaborate with other thinkers and organizations. They work to define guidelines for current practice, and besides continually consider new developments and emerging technologies in guild to course answers for the years and decades to come.

For example, bioethicists may examine the implications of gene editing technologies, including the ability to create organisms that may displace others in the surround, too equally the ability to "design" human being beings. In that effort, ethicists will likely seek to balance the positive outcomes -- such as improved therapies or prevention of sure illnesses -- with negative outcomes.

Unfortunately, the emergence of bioethics every bit a field came afterwards a number of clearly unethical practices, where biologists did not care for inquiry subjects with nobility and in some cases did them damage. In the 1932 Tuskegee syphilis report, 399 African American men were diagnosed with syphilis but were never informed that they had the affliction, leaving them to alive with and pass on the illness to others. Doctors fifty-fifty withheld proven medications because the goal of the report was to empathise the impact of untreated syphilis on Black men.

While the decisions made in the Tuskegee study are unjustifiable, some decisions are genuinely difficult to make. Bioethicists work to establish moral and dignifying approaches before such decisions come to pass. For case, doctors rely on bogus intelligence and robotics for medical diagnosis and treatment; in the near future, fifty-fifty more responsibleness volition prevarication with machines. Who will be responsible for medical decisions? Who volition explain to families if a process doesn't go as planned? And, since such treatments volition probable be expensive, who will decide who has access to them and who does not? These are all questions bioethicists seek to reply, and are the types of considerations that all scientific researchers take into account when designing and conducting studies.

Bioethics are not simple, and often leave scientists balancing benefits with harm. In this text and course, y'all volition discuss medical discoveries, vaccines, and enquiry that, at their core, have an ethical complexity or, in the view of many, an ethical lapse. In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a thirty-year-old African American woman, was diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Unique characteristics of her illnesses gave her cells the ability to divide continuously, essentially making them "immortal." Without her knowledge or permission, researchers took samples of her cells and with them created the immortal HeLa jail cell line. These cells take contributed to major medical discoveries, including the polio vaccine. Many researchers mentioned in subsequent sections of the text relied on HeLa cell research as at to the lowest degree a component of their work related to cancer, AIDS, cell aging, and even very recently in COVID-xix inquiry.

Today, harvesting tissue or organs from a dying patient without consent is non merely considered unethical just illegal, regardless of whether such an human activity could salve other patients' lives. Is information technology upstanding, and then, for scientists to continue to use Lacks'southward tissues for inquiry, fifty-fifty though they were obtained illegally past today's standards? Should Lacks be mentioned equally a contributor to the inquiry based on her cells, and should she be cited in the several Nobel Prizes that take been awarded through such work? Finally, should medical companies be obligated to pay Lacks' family (which had financial difficulties) a portion of the billions of dollars in revenue earned through medicines that benefited from HeLa cell research? How would Henrietta Lacks feel about this? Because she was never asked, we will never know.

To avoid such situations, the role of ethics in scientific inquiry is to inquire such questions before, during, and after research or exercise takes place, as well every bit to adhere to established professional person principles and consider the dignity and safe of all organisms involved or affected by the work.

lanhamconet1994.blogspot.com

Source: https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/1-1-the-science-of-biology

Share this post