DNA in Forensic Science
Forensic Science deals with investigations of suspects or criminals in crime scenes legally. In most cases, there are usually a lot of people involved in crime scenes. Some of them being innocent while some are the criminals. Also, there may be one criminal involved in an incidence. In Forensic Science, DNA is used to differentiate the individuals so that the criminal among them can be known. Additionally, DNA analysis is performed in the paternity testing. It enables the determination of a parent or parents of a child. DNA analysis is now being regarded as scientific evidence ("Application of forensic DNA testing in the legal system. - PubMed - NCBI," n.d.). Examples include the use of DNA analysis to determine the criminal in a rape case, the use of DNA analysis to determine the criminal involved in a fighting activity that resulted in the death of one person, and the use of DNA analysis in determining the father of a child in court cases.
Population evolution and microbial life
Population evolution is being applied today to the changes that a population has undergone. Looking at a population several years back, they may look different than the current population of the same species. It is worth noting that organisms in a given population will only survive if they are fitter than others at that particular time, or adapt well. The unfit organisms eventually die. This means that the genetic make-up of this organism will be changing so that species of the organisms that can adapt well to the environment results. Genetic drift or natural selection are the normal factors that cause this. The population evolution, therefore, enables researchers to study populations and determine the changes in their genetic makeups that resulted in the evolution of populations. They can be able to predict how a population will evolve is future, for instance like how the Darwin’s Theory predicted evolution (Werner & Werner, 2009, p. 75). Examples include the use of population to explain why some organism produce particular enzymes unlike before, and why some population limits their food to one type of prey whereas that is not the case in extreme cases of hunger. Microbial life is applied in biology today so that the characteristics of a microbe can be known. This means that more can be known about a microbe. Example include the study of microbe life so that drugs against them can be made appropriately, and so that they can be used in the industrial processes like fermentation www.teachengineering.org," n.d.).
Biological diversity evolution.
This is applied in biology today to know why there is some difference in the same species. Evolution may cause biological diversity in a species in several ways. There are factors that may affect the species phenotypically or genotypically. Biological diversity evolution is applied so that the exact factors that led to diversity in a species can be known. Furthermore, it can also be applied to analyze the factors that led to the diversity of organisms which are theoretically believed to have a common ancestor. Diversity itself helps in maintain a healthy ecosystem in the world. it also helps researchers identify the type of environment present in a particular habitat, or why a population is only found in some places or one place. Examples include the application of biological biodiversity in biology today to show the phylogenetic relationship between humans and apes or between leaves family and dinosaurs (Brown, 2015, p. 194). Biological biodiversity also explains why polar bears survive well in cold polar regions, and why some organisms of the same species in different regions have different appearances.
Plant and animal evolution
Plant evolution is used in biology in explaining the relationship of plants through the phylogenomic approaches. Over more than million years ago, plants did not possess many differences as seen nowadays. It is believed that plants evolved due to the forces of nature. Plant evolution clarifies why some plants are for instance, insectivorous, yet that is not a common characteristic in plants. It also enables proper classification of plants. Plants can now be categorized in specific taxonomic groups looking at their characteristics due to evolution. Examples of plant evolution application are development of plant pathways and the reasons for mutual relationships between different plants. On the other hand, animal evolution enables researchers to understand why there are several different species of a given genus. It also helps scientists understand more the relationship that exists between different organisms. Again, animal evolution is applied when scientists are trying to discover the occurrence of certain diseases, and at what point they occurred. Examples include the study of different human races and how they occurred, how climate effects have led to human evolution ("Climate Effects on Human Evolution | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program," n.d.), the evolution of dinosaurs to birds as some theories suggest, and the study of evolution in human activity from making fire to being modernized.
Population growth
Population growth is applied in biology today in many areas like predicting the population of a given organism after a given period of time. Trends in a population have to be analyzed so a to make the prediction by studying their population growth. Population growth is also used to study the type of disease that occur in a population and what leads to the occurrence of the disease. If a disease happens to attack one type of organism, there is a need for analyzing the population growth of the organisms to measure the impact of the disease. In evaluating the causes of an organism or plant extinction, population growth is also applied. It is also applied in the prevention of extinctions (Miller & Spoolman, 2009, p. 120). Examples include the determination of population growth of hybrids in conducted experiments or test crosses, the effect of a certain antibiotic on the population growth of a specific bacteria, and the effects of both abiotic and biotic factors on organisms in a habitat.
Biomes and ecosystem
This is applied in biology today in determining the ideal living places or conditions of living organisms (Tolba, 2001, p. 18), and therefore offer the same to an organism in isolation or undergoing an experiment. If an organism is put in unfavorable living conditions or if it is removed from its biome, it may die. Each organism has a preference in the type of an environment that it can survive as well as get food easily. This enables scientist to explore the relationship of organisms living in a community. In an ecosystem, there may be more than one hundred organisms cohabiting together. As much as there are predators in an ecosystem, the preys also benefit as well. In ecosystems, organisms live in a balanced way in such a way that there exist food chains and food webs. Biomes and ecosystems help scientists come up with the available food chains in the ecosystem and the importance of each organism or plant. Example include the application of biomes and ecosystem study in research of invasive species, the application of biomes and ecosystems to determine how energy is transferred in a given environment, and in trying to save the endangered species in an ecosystem.
References
Application of forensic DNA testing in the legal system. - PubMed - NCBI. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10810166
Biological Processes: Putting Microbes to Work - Lesson - www.teachengineering.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/usf_microbes_lesson01
Brown, D. E. (2015). Human Biological Diversity.
Climate Effects on Human Evolution | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://humanorigins.si.edu/research/climate-and-human-evolution/climate-effects-human-evolution
Miller, G. T., & Spoolman, S. (2009). Living in the environment: Concepts, connections, and solutions. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Tolba, M. K. (2001). Our fragile world: Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. Oxford: Eolss Publishers.
Werner, C., & Werner, D. (2009). Evolution: the grand experiment: The quest for an answer. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Press.
