The universe as it is is filled with an immeasurable amount of mysteries, and although the world itself is a part of this universe, it is also the house of an incredible amount of mysteries, some of which we have managed to solve along the course of our history.
Back in the day rain used to be one mystery that we could predict to a certain extent thanks to the visual clues we could get from clouds and temperature. However, as time went by, we accumulated knowledge, technologies, and of course, theories, eventually solving the mystery of rain and how it actually worked.
Just like this, we have been capable of resolving several mysteries related to many things in the world. But there’s a particular type of study that has focused on a very mysterious yet necessary area of our society, and that is biology, since thanks to it, we were capable of understanding even the tiniest of things: Microorganisms.
In this article, we will talk about one particular area of biology known as histology, and showcase histology basics for bioscientists that might be interested in studying as a biology career.
Biology and Its Many Branches
Biology can be described as the scientific study of life. Considering the incredible amount of organisms and species that enter this category as well as the many things that can influence them, it is normal for biology to have a broad scope, covering several different types of studies with all of them focusing on one particular aspect of life.
The practice of focusing on said specific studies are often considered as branches, since each branch of biology focuses on one particular thing, varying in complexity and objectives. Good examples of this include:
- Agriculture focuses on the study of the reproduction and maintenance of livestock and crops for our consumption.
- Anatomy, focuses on the study of the physique of the animal form, more specifically, the human physique.
- Zoology is considered the study of animals, their physical structure, development, reproduction, behavior, and classification.
Among some branches, you can find sub-branches like:
- Entomology, the study of insects
- Herpetology, the study of reptiles
- Virology, the study of viruses
- Primatology, the study of primates.
You can get to know all of them over at https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/branches-of-biology in case you are interested, now… Where does histology enter the play?
The Microscopic Study of Tissue
Unperceived by the human eye, we can find a wide range of microscopic entities in the world, some of them belonging to the physical structure of different biological organisms, including animals, plants, and humans.
Believe it or not, many aspects of the body of animals and plants are actually created through the combination of several of these microscopic entities combined to form a larger group of microorganisms, capable of then forming something known as a tissue.
These microorganisms are frequently referred to as cells, and histology is the study of said cells, and the tissue they form when grouped together. The tissue then enters different categories depending on the organism being studied. With animals and humans, they are categorized as:
- Nervous tissue is in charge of managing and coordinating several physiological functions of the body.
- Muscular tissue, expand and contract to allow movement
- Epithelial tissue is found throughout the body, creating components like skin, organs, glands, and many more components.
- Connective tissue, which, as the name implies, is found between the other tissues and works as the connection between them to work properly.
In plants, as shown over here, you can find vascular, dermal, meristematic, and ground tissue.
Why Histology Matters
Histology played an important role in the understanding of several aspects of our society that are nowadays considered essential.
Several types of diseases and viruses were only understood once we were capable of studying microorganisms since most of them influence the body on a microscopic level.
Of course, the same can be said for archeology, which is described as the study of remains of past activities involved in our history and development. Many aspects of archeology are only possible thanks to histology since it allows a much deeper comprehension of animal and human life back in the day.
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