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Biology in the 20th and 21st centuries

Just as the 19th century can be considered the age of cellular biology, the 20th and 21st
centuries were characterized primarily by developments in molecular biology.

Important conceptual and technological developments

By utilizing modern methods of investigation, such as X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy,
to explore levels of cellular organization beyond that visible with a light microscope—the
ultrastructure of the cell—new concepts of cellular function were produced. As a result, the
study of the molecular organization of the cell had tremendous impact on biology during the
20th and 21st centuries. It also led directly to the convergence of many different
scientific disciplines in order to acquire a better understanding of life processes.

Technologies such as DNA sequencing and the polymerase chain reaction also were
developed, allowing biologists to peer into the genetic blueprints that give rise to organisms.
First-generation sequencing technologies emerged in the 1970s and were followed several
decades later by so-called next-generation sequencing technologies, which were superior in
speed and cost-efficiency. Next-generation sequencing provided researchers with massive
amounts of genetic data, typically gigabases in size (1 gigabase = 1,000,000,000 base pairs of
DNA). Bioinformatics, which linked biological data with tools and techniques for data analysis,
storage, and distribution, became an increasingly important part of biological studies,
particularly those involving very large sets of genetic data.

anthrax protein
This computerized image of anthrax shows the various structural relationships of seven units within the
protein and demonstrates the interaction of a drug (shown in yellow) bound to the protein to block the so-
called lethal factor unit. Bioinformatics plays an important role in enabling scientists to predict where a drug
molecule will bind within a protein, given the individual structures of the molecules.
Image: University of Oxford/Getty Images
In the 1970s the development of recombinant DNA technology opened the way to genetic
engineering, which enabled researchers to recombine nucleic acids and thereby modify
organisms’ genetic codes, giving the organisms new abilities or eliminating undesirable traits.
Those developments were followed by advances in cloning technologies, which led to the
generation in 1996 of Dolly the sheep, the first clone of an adult mammal. Together,
recombinant DNA technology and reproductive cloning (the method used to produce a
living animal clone) facilitated great progress in the development of genetically modified
organisms (GMOs). Such organisms became crucial components of biomedical research,
where genetically modified (GM) mice and other animals were developed to model certain
human diseases, thereby facilitating the investigation of new therapies and the factors that
cause disease. Recombinant DNA technology played a crucial role in the generation of GM
crops, including pest-resistant forms of cotton and herbicide-resistant forms of maize (corn)
and soybeans.

gene knockout
In gene knockout, a functional gene is replaced by an inactivated gene that is created using recombinant
DNA technology. When a gene is “knocked out,” the resulting mutant phenotype (observable characteristics)
often reveals the gene's biological function.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, researchers worldwide increasingly came together
in consortiums and other collaborative groups to accomplish major feats in biology. The first
major success of those efforts was the sequencing of the human genome, which was
accomplished through the Human Genome Project (HGP). The HGP began in 1990, supported
by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH
researchers later joined forces with Celera Genomics, a private-sector enterprise, and the
project was completed in 2003. Other collaborative projects soon followed, including
the International HapMap Project, an outgrowth of the HGP, and the 1000 Genomes Project,
which built on data from the HapMap effort.

The 20th and 21st centuries also saw major advances in areas of biology dealing
with ecosystems, the environment, and conservation. In the 20th century, scientists realized
that humans are as dependent upon Earth’s natural resources as are other animals. However,
humans were contributing to the progressive destruction of the environment, in part because
of an increase in population pressure and certain technological advances. Lifesaving advances
in medicine, for example, had allowed people to live longer and resulted in a dramatic drop
in death rates (primarily in developed countries), contributing to an explosive increase in the
human population. Chemical contaminants introduced into the environment by
manufacturing processes, pesticides, automobile emissions, and other means seriously
endangered all forms of life. Hence, biologists began to pay much greater attention to the
relationships of living things to each other as well as to their biotic and abiotic environments.

The growing significance of climate change and its impact on ecosystems fueled advances in
ecology, as well as the development of fields such as conservation biology and conservation
genetics. As in almost every other area of biology, molecular biology came to fulfill an
important role in those fields, with techniques such as whole genome sequencing being used
to gather information on the genetic diversity of populations of endangered species and
techniques such as cloning and genome editing raising the possibility of someday resurrecting
extinct species (a process known as de-extinction). Information on the DNA sequences of a
wide range of species also aided progress in scientists’ understanding
of evolution and systematics (the study of evolutionary relationships and the diversification of
life).

Intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary work

By the 21st century, there were many important categories in the biological sciences and hence
numerous specialties within fields. Botany, zoology, and microbiology dealt with types of
organisms and their relationships with each other. Such disciplines had long been subdivided
into more-specialized categories—for example, ichthyology, the study of fishes, and algology,
the study of algae. Disciplines such as embryology and physiology, which dealt with the
development and function of an organism, were divided further according to the kind of
organism studied—for example, invertebrate embryology and mammalian physiology. Many
developments in physiology and embryology had resulted from studies in cell
biology, biophysics, and biochemistry. Likewise, research in cell physiology and
cytochemistry, along with ultrastructural studies, helped scientists correlate cell structure with
function. Ecology, which focused on relationships between organisms and their environment,
included both the physical features of the environment and other organisms that may compete
for food and shelter. Emphasis on different environments and certain features of organisms
resulted in the subdivision of the field into a range of specialties, such as freshwater ecology,
marine ecology, and population ecology.

scale in ecological studies

A forest patch nested within a landscape mosaic.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Many areas of study in the biological sciences cross the boundaries that traditionally separated
the various branches of the sciences. In biophysics, for example, researchers apply the
principles and methods of physics to investigate and find solutions to problems in biology.
Evolutionary biologists and paleontologists are familiar with the principles of geology and may
even work closely with geologists while attempting to determine the age of biological remains.
Likewise, anthropologists and archaeologists apply knowledge of human culture and society to
biological findings in order to more fully understand humankind. Astrobiology arose through
the activities of the scientists and engineers concerned with the exploration of space. As a
result, the field of biology has received contributions from and made contributions to many
other disciplines, in the humanities as well as in the sciences.

Through the 20th and 21st centuries, as biology became increasingly interconnected with other
areas of science, it also came to encompass a number of disciplines itself. In some of those
disciplines, multiple levels of organization were recognized—for example, population biology
(the study of populations of living things) and organismic biology (the study of the whole
organism) and cell biology and molecular biology. In the latter part of the 20th century,
molecular biology spawned still more disciplines, and the advent of genomics led to the
emergence of sophisticated subdisciplines, such as developmental genomics and functional
genomics. Genetics continued to expand, giving rise to new areas such as conservation
genetics. Despite their diverse scope, however, in the 21st century many areas of the biological
sciences continued to draw on common unifying principles and ideas, particularly those that
were central to taxonomy, genetics, and evolution.

Susan Heyner JoshiEdna R. GreenKara Rogers

Changing social and scientific values

In the 20th and 21st centuries, biologists’ role in society as well as their moral and ethical
responsibility in the discovery and development of new ideas led to a reassessment of individual
social and scientific value systems. Scientists cannot afford to ignore the consequences of their
discoveries; they are as concerned with the possible misuses of their findings as they are with
the basic research in which they are involved. In the 20th century, the emerging social and
political role of the biologist and all other scientists required a weighing of values that could
not be done with the accuracy or objectivity of a laboratory balance. As members of society, it
became necessary for biologists to redefine their social obligations and functions, particularly
in the realm of making judgments about ethical problems, such as human control of the
environment or the manipulation of genes to direct further evolutionary development.

Coping with problems of the future

Of particular consequence in the biological sciences was the development of genetic

engineering. In cases of genetic deficiencies and disease, genetic engineering opened up the
possibility of correcting gene defects to restore physiological function, potentially improving
patients’ quality of life. Gene therapy, in which a normal gene would be introduced into an
individual’s genome in order to repair a disease-causing mutation, was one means by which
researchers could potentially achieve that goal. However, the possibilities for misuse of genetic
engineering were vast. There was significant concern, for example, about genetically modified
organisms, particularly modified crops, and their impacts on human and environmental
health. The emergence of cloning technologies, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, also
raised concerns. The Declaration on Human Cloning passed in 2005 by the United
Nations called upon member states to prohibit the cloning of humans, though it left open the
pursuit of therapeutic cloning.

Similarly, in 2015, researchers who had developed technologies for gene editing, which
enabled scientists to customize an organism’s genetic makeup by altering specific bases in its
DNA sequence, called for a moratorium on the application of the technologies in humans. The
impacts of gene editing on human genetics were unknown, and there were no regulations in
place to guide its use. Indeed, in the absence of strict regulation, a Chinese scientist moved
forward with gene editing in humans, in late 2018 claiming the birth of the world’s first babies
carrying edited genomes. The scientist claimed to have edited human embryos to disable a
gene that normally facilitates the entry of HIV into cells; the embryos were then implanted
into a woman and carried to term. Meanwhile, researchers in the United States attempted to
use gene editing to alter genes in human sperm, which would enable the edited genes to be
passed on to subsequent generations. In particular, the researchers sought to alter genes that
increase the risk of certain types of cancer, with the aim of reducing cancer risk in offspring.
The debate over gene editing renewed earlier discussions about the ethical and social impacts
of genetic engineering in humans, especially its potential to be used to alter traits such as
intelligence and appearance.

Other challenges confronting biologists included the search for ways to curb environmental
pollution without interfering with efforts to improve the quality of life for humankind.
Contributing to the problem of pollution was the problem of surplus human population. A rise
in global human population had placed greater demands on the land, especially in the area of
food production, and had necessitated increases in the operations of modern industry, the
waste products of which contributed to the pollution of air, water, and soil. To find solutions
to global warming, pollution, and other environmental problems, biologists worked with social
scientists and other members of society in order to determine the requirements necessary for
maintaining a healthy and productive planet. For although many of humankind’s present and
future problems may seem to be essentially social, political, or economic in nature, they have
biological ramifications that could affect the very existence of life itself.

Edna R. GreenKara Rogers