Importance of Evolutionary Biology

Serena Cuoghi
Title of Professor of Biology

As a subarea of ​​biology, it focuses on the study of evolutionary processes and how these generate, as a consequence, the diversity of characters among species, becoming the fundamental discipline to understand how living beings have evolved over time and how they have adapted to different environments and conditions, using the resources generated from other areas such as: 1) genetics, which provides the tools for the study of the relationships between the genetic sequences of the species; 2) molecular biology, through the analysis of the various substances and common biochemical characteristics between species of the same lineage; 3) paleontology, through all the knowledge about fossil remains; 4) ecology, which offers the study of the interactions and behaviors of living beings; and 5) biogeography, as a source of understanding about the impact of the characteristics of the planet as a source of evolutionary stimulus; among other areas that in one way or another provide resources for the clarification of the circumstances that have made life possible.

One of the key findings is the theory of evolution by natural selection, proposed by Charles Darwin in his work "The origin of species" in 1859, which has been widely accepted by the scientific community and has allowed us to understand that evolution is a gradual process that occurs over time through the most advantageous characteristics for the survival and reproduction of the living beings. In this way, it is possible to understand the origins, causes, modes and processes that generate biological diversity, which allows the development of effective strategies for their conservation, balance, and establish mechanisms for the protection of those in danger of extinction.

Processes of adaptation and practice of knowledge

The determination of the common ancestor that each lineage of species may have and that, even, they all share with each other, is based on the study of similarities. and differences between living beings and in the comparison of their DNA, a fact that has allowed the dismantling of all other hypotheses about the origin of life, although many of them – especially those of a religious nature – continue to be part of the beliefs, despite the absence of scientific arguments to support them.

In a more utilitarian way, it has an impact on health, since the understanding of the evolutionary processes of the species, from microorganisms, creates the necessary knowledge about the mechanisms of spread and development of infectious diseases and how fungi, viruses, bacteria and other pathogenic beings adapt to different environments and conditions, allowing great advances on the studies in the development of drug resistance and its consequent models for the generation of new strategies in the attention and control of the diseases.

Adversities to overcome

Currently, evolutionary biology faces new challenges, such as climate change and the increasingly expansive loss of natural habitats, seeing the vertiginous need to increase the studies necessary to understand the mechanisms of adaptation of species to various conditions and how they can face the challenges generated as a consequence of human action, in such a way as to be able to develop effective conservation and restoration strategies that allow the protection of the biodiversity and prevent the extinction of species, giving rise to new areas of research, such as developmental biology, focused on the particular state of the different life forms.

Understand the origins, causes, ways and processes by which biological diversity has been generated and how the different species are related among themselves, allows to reconstruct models on the adaptation processes of living beings to different environments and how natural selection has done so. molded, knowledge that has been used to recreate an estimate of the species that disappeared throughout the various eras geological.

As a direct result, it is possible to advance on the conservation of biodiversity, on the development of effective strategies, the balance between species and between them and their environment, and can even create specific mechanisms for the protection of species in danger of extinction, as the factors of environmental change are discovered before which a certain family becomes vulnerable.

References

Barrasa, J. m. (2000). Evolution and biodiversity: the importance of systematic biology. Vivat Academy. Communication Magazine, 1-8.

Salvat Library (1973). The evolution of the spices. Barcelona, ​​Spain. Salvat Editors.

Caponi, G. (2001). functional biology vs. evolutionary biology. Episteme, 12, 23-46.

Gama, A. (2012). biology i Pearson Education.

Montenegro, R. (Ed.). (2001). evolutionary biology. Editorial Bruges.