basics of life science

Life science is one of the two natural sciences along with physical science. While physical science deals with all things non-living, life science is just what it sounds like; all about life! Since we haven’t yet discovered life on any other planets, life science just deals with life on Earth, at least for now. Some categories of life science, or biology, are botany, zoology, taxonomy, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and genetics, as well as many others. All of these categories are distinct and have very specific characteristics, however, they all fall under biology, which has several broad concepts that govern everything else that is considered life science.

WHAT IS LIFE?

One of these governing concepts is the definition of life. Something is living if it can perform all of the seven activities necessary for life. These seven activities or properties are reproduction, use of energy, response to stimuli, growth and development, maintenance of homeostasis, evolutionary adaptation, and order. All of these are pretty overwhelming, but don’t worry, it’s really simple. It’s important to note that this is not a concrete definition of life and the way we define life is a constant topic of debate.

Reproduction: All living things can make more of themselves, whether it’s by sexually or asexually reproducing.

Use of Energy: All living things use energy by consuming it or converting sunlight to food, then chemically breaking it down, then releasing it as heat.

Response to Stimuli: All living things respond to what’s around them and act based on it.

Growth and Development: All living things grow and develop based on the instructions coded in their genes through DNA.

Maintenance of Homeostasis: All living things can regulate the internal conditions of their bodies and maintain a dynamic balance.

Evolutionary Adaptation: All living things evolve as a population through natural selection.

Order: All living things are organized and have structure.