Early civilizations believed that life was created by supernatural forces. Any information here should not be considered absolutely correct, complete, and up-to-date. Learn a new word every day. Cell biology is the study of cells—the fundamental units of structure and function in living organisms. The hominid family diversified from the apes around 6 to 8 million years ago. Delivered to your inbox! (3) That which acts as the source or that which from where something is derived. Point of origin definition is - the place where something comes from : the place where something originates. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). Hence, it is the point of attachment which is relatively fixed. What made you want to look up point of origin? The origin of life is a result of a supernatural event—that is, one irretrievably beyond the descriptive powers of physics, chemistry, and other science. In contrast, bacterial cells do not contain organelles. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Thus, while it is custom to separate the study of plants (botany) from that of animals (zoology), and the study of the structure of organisms (morphology) from that of function (physiology), all living things share in common certain biological phenomena—for example, various means of reproduction, cell division, and the transmission of genetic material. As a field of science, biology helps us understand the living world and the ways its many species (including humans) function, evolve, and interact. A common origin of life would explain why in humans or bacteria—and in all forms of life in between—the same chemical substance, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), in the form of genes accounts for the ability of all living matter to replicate itself exactly and to transmit genetic information from parent to offspring. During muscular contraction, the origin of the muscle does not move. The Origin of Life Humans have adopted many theories regarding the origin of life over the course of our time on Earth. The arthropods were assumed to be the first taxon of species to possess jointed limbs and exoskeleton, exhibit more advanced receptors in the form of eyes, and develop various chemoreceptors. Those broadly based levels—molecules, cells, whole organisms, and populations—may be further subdivided for study, giving rise to specializations such as morphology, taxonomy, biophysics, biochemistry, genetics, epigenetics, and ecology. All Rights Reserved. “Point of origin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/point%20of%20origin. The concept of homeostasis—that living things maintain a constant internal environment—was first suggested in the 19th century by French physiologist Claude Bernard, who stated that “all the vital mechanisms, varied as they are, have only one object: that of preserving constant the conditions of life.”. It delves into the development of plant roots, the root structure, and the major regions of a plant root. Biology is often approached on the basis of levels that deal with fundamental units of life. A person with a degree in biology could work in agriculture, health care, biotechnology, education, environmental conservation, research, forensic science, policy, science communication, and many other areas. What does 'poke' refer to in the expression 'pig in a poke'. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. (4) (anatomy) The point of attachment, as the end of the muscle (when contracted). (3) That which acts as the source or that which from where something is derived. Also included are the different modified stems that carry out special functions. Biology graduates can hold a wide range of jobs, some of which may require additional education. (2) The cause; that which causes something to arise. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. The content on this website is for information only. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Biology is subdivided into separate branches for convenience of study, though all the subdivisions are interrelated by basic principles. At the level of molecular biology, for example, life is regarded as a manifestation of chemical and energy transformations that occur among the many chemical constituents that compose an organism. A field of biology may be especially concerned with the investigation of one kind of living thing—for example, the study of birds in ornithology, the study of fishes in ichthyology, or the study of microorganisms in microbiology. Definition noun, plural: origins (1) The birth, existence, or beginning; starting point. Modern principles of other fields—chemistry, medicine, and physics, for example—are integrated with those of biology in areas such as biochemistry, biomedicine, and biophysics. Kara Rogers is the senior editor of biomedical sciences at Encyclopædia Britannica, where she oversees a range of content from medicine and genetics to microorganisms. Advances in medicine, agriculture, biotechnology, and many other areas of biology have brought improvements in the quality of life. Fields such as genetics and evolution give insight into the past and can help shape the future, and research in ecology and conservation inform how we can protect this planet’s precious biodiversity. It is this universal phenomenon that gives rise to the differences (variations) in populations of organisms from which nature selects for survival those that are best able to cope with changing conditions in the environment. .. The origin is the end of a skeletal muscle, located more proximal to the centre of the body. Stems primarily provide plants structural support. Life, particularly simple forms, spontaneously and readily arises from nonliving matter in short periods of time, today as in the past. Before using our website, please read our Privacy Policy. Or something like that. Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way. As a result of the development of increasingly powerful and precise laboratory instruments and techniques, it is possible to understand and define with high precision and accuracy not only the ultimate physiochemical organization (ultrastructure) of the molecules in living matter but also the way living matter reproduces at the molecular level. Population biology deals with groups or populations of organisms that inhabit a given area or region. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Biology Online, its staff, or its partners. Biology is a branch of science that deals with living organisms and their vital processes. (2) The cause; that which causes something to arise. Definition noun, plural: origins (1) The birth, existence, or beginning; starting point. That means; the bone in this attachment point is also fixed. Before that time, the individual organism was studied as a whole in a field known as organismic biology; that area of research remains an important component of the biological sciences. .. Whenever a change in a gene (a mutation) occurs, there is a change of some kind in the organism that contains the gene. There is not only unity of basic living substance and functioning but also unity of origin of all living things. Supplement Word origin: L orīgin- (s. of orīgō) beginning, source, lineage Synonyms: Compare: insertion (anatomy) Related terms: This study guide tackles plant roots in greater detail. Furthermore, the mechanisms for that transmittal follow a pattern that is the same in all organisms. © 2001-2020 BiologyOnline. Organisms were “hand-made” to be perfectly adapted to their environment and, therefore, did not change over time. The concept was later extended to include any biological system from the cell to the entire biosphere, all the areas of Earth inhabited by living things. Since then, the evolutionary path has proved to be nothing short of phenomenal. Origin and evolution of the peroxisomal proteome, Charles Darwin Really Did Have Advanced Ideas About The Origin Of Life, A New Theory on the Origin of Animal Multicellularity, Tracing the origin of functional and conserved domains in the human proteome: implications for protein evolution at the modular level, New Research Proves Single Origin Of Humans In Africa. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Furthermore, since the action of any organism is determined by the manner in which its cells interact and since all cells interact in much the same way, the basic functioning of all organisms is also similar. If, however, life originated on Earth more than once in the past, the fact that all organisms have a sameness of basic structure, composition, and function would seem to indicate that only one original type succeeded. Biological practices among Assyrians and Babylonians, Biological knowledge of Egyptians, Chinese, and Indians, Theories about humankind and the origin of life, The Arab world and the European Middle Ages, The discovery of the circulation of blood, The establishment of scientific societies, The use of structure for classifying organisms, The development of comparative biological studies, The study of the reproduction and development of organisms, Important conceptual and technological developments, Intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary work, https://www.britannica.com/science/biology, biology - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), biology - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up).