Skip to main content
Clinical Medicine logoLink to Clinical Medicine
. 2003 Nov 1;3(6):560–568. doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.3-6-560

The great ideas of biology

Paul Nurse 1
PMCID: PMC4952585  PMID: 14994716

Abstract

Four of the great ideas of biology are discussed: the cell as the basic structural and functional unit of life, the gene as the mechanism of heredity, evolution by natural selection, and life as chemistry. A fifth idea is explored whereby biological organisation is explained in terms of logical and informational processes and structures.

Key Words: biochemistry, cell, evolution, fermentation, gene, history, hybridisation, information, organisation

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (681.2 KB).


Articles from Clinical Medicine are provided here courtesy of Royal College of Physicians

RESOURCES