List of life sciences

Different kinds of living creatures studied in life sciences

• top: microorganisms (E. coli bacteria) and an animal (Goliath beetle)
• bottom: a plant (tree fern) and humans

This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, the other being physical science, which is concerned with non-living matter. Biology is the overall natural science that studies life, with the other life sciences as its sub-disciplines.

Science in Everyday Life

Science plays a crucial role in our everyday lives, often without us even realizing it. From the moment we wake up until we go to bed, we encounter countless applications of science. For instance, the alarm clock that wakes us up operates based on principles of electricity and circuits.^[1]

Some life sciences focus on a specific type of organism. 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. Some focus on the micro-scale (e.g. molecular biology, biochemistry) other on larger scales (e.g. cytology, immunology, ethology, pharmacy, ecology). Another major branch of life sciences involves understanding the mind – neuroscience. Life sciences discoveries are helpful in improving the quality and standard of life and have applications in health, agriculture, medicine, and the pharmaceutical and food science industries. For example, it has provided information on certain diseases which has overall aided in the understanding of human health.^[2]