biology
Let an agent treat biology as a discipline with fields, methods, evidence standards and institutions, separate from the organisms it studies.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Scope Fields and scales.
Field
Sub-discipline.
Field
Which field a question belongs to.
- Which field of biology does this question belong to? definition
- Which neighbouring fields are relevant? definition
Scale
Molecule to ecosystem.
Level of organisation
The level studied.
- At which level of organisation is this studied? definition
- Does a finding at one level transfer to another? boundary
Methods and evidence How knowledge is made.
Methods
Experiment, observation, modelling.
Methods
The method used.
- Which method produced this finding? provenance
- What are its limitations? boundary
Evidence strength
Replication and review.
Evidence quality
Peer review and replication.
- Has the finding been peer reviewed and replicated? provenance
- Is it consensus or contested? boundary
Ethics and safety Rules for research.
Ethics
Animal and human research.
Ethics approval
Approvals required.
- Which ethics approvals did this research need? provenance
- How were animals or participants protected? boundary
Biosafety and dual use
Containment and misuse.
Biosafety
Containment and misuse risks.
- Which biosafety level applies? boundary
- Could this information enable harm, and should it be withheld? boundary
Institutions Where biology is done.
Bodies
Universities, institutes, societies.
Institutions
Key institutions.
- Which institutions lead research on this topic? provenance
- Which journals publish it? provenance
Education
Courses and qualifications.
Education
How it is taught.
- How is this field taught, and at which levels? definition
- Which qualifications are recognised? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.KNW
- Other names and narrower kinds
- pharmacoeconomist, Māori agriculture and forestry, forest pathology, forest zoology, animal nutrition science, cat nutrition, Mosquito proboscis inspired needles, anti-allergic agents, biosemiotics, biosemantics, zoosemiotics, phytosemiotics
What it is Filled
The natural science that studies living organisms, their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution and interactions, from molecules to ecosystems.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent treat biology as a discipline with fields, methods, evidence standards and institutions, separate from the organisms it studies.
Distinguishing features Filled
- A discipline, not the organisms
- Divided into many fields and scales
- Relies on experiment, observation and evolution as a unifying theory
- Governed by research ethics and biosafety rules
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Help with research that could create or enhance a pathogen or other biological threat.
- Present a single unreplicated study as established.
- Advise work with biological agents outside the biosafety rules that apply.
Only with a human decision
- Approving or publishing dual-use research.
May
- Explain biological concepts and findings, citing peer-reviewed sources.
- Note when a result has not been replicated.
Moral aspects Filled
- Biological knowledge can protect or harm on a large scale.
- Research on living things raises duties to animals and human subjects.
Who is affected
- The public
- Research subjects and animals
- Researchers
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the science; research institutions and biosafety regulators answer for its practice.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q7991 - registry parent class
- Q864928 - registry parent class
related
- natural science - alongside physics and chemistry
- organism - animals, plants, fungi, microbes
- medicine and agriculture - applied disciplines
- life itself - the discipline is not its subject
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.biology
- Wikidata: Q420 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q420)
- field classification: OECD FORD 1.6 Biological sciences research classification
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Research articles, textbooks and courses labelled by field
- Institutions and societies in the life sciences
- Organisms themselves are separate entries
- Laboratories, field sites, collections, journals and university departments; the discipline itself has no appearance.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- study and teach it
- conduct research, under ethical and biosafety rules
- publish and review findings
- apply it, in medicine, agriculture and industry
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Irreproducible results
- Biosafety lapses
- Dual-use research that could enable harm, which agents must not help with
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Research ethics and animal research law such as EU Directive 2010/63
- Biosafety levels and the Biological Weapons Convention
- Nagoya Protocol on genetic resources
Context of use required Filled
- Understanding life, and grounding medicine, agriculture, conservation and biotechnology.
- molecular and cell biology
- genetics and genomics
- physiology and anatomy
- ecology and evolution
- zoology, botany, microbiology, mycology
- applied fields such as forest pathology and animal nutrition
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q420: biology - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Biology - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should fields of biology be separate entries?
- How should agents assess the strength of biological evidence?
- How should dual-use limits be represented?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q420/spec.json