Emerging Science Fields You’ll Want to Know About

Science is continually changing and developing, as thousands of theories and studies are being put out by researchers every year. Due to the rapid growth of science in recent years, there have been several fields that are much more prioritizes today than others. These fields may have been sub-branches of main areas of science, or they could be entirely new branches.

The reason behind most of these fields’ popularity is due to how relatable they are to the current situation of the world. By studying and analyzing the subjects in these fields, researchers will be able to find out each subject’s problems and come up with ways to eliminate the issues and make it easier for humans to deal with.

These are the fields or branches that are currently emerging in the world of science.

Genomics

In the year 1990, the Human Genome Project (HGP) was launched to examine the universal elements that make up our DNA. Interestingly, every person on Earth has a different genome, but the HGP was able to complete a general sequence of the human genome by gathering small groups of people and getting the data of their DNA analyzed.

Due to humans having unique genomes, it is quite impossible to get a 100 percent accurate depiction of the human genome. Still, the HGP was successful in creating a very accurate representation.

Today, the research of the Human Genome Project is proven to be fruitful, as their studies have been used to find ways to cure diseases in the human body. Most of the illnesses that our body gets are caused by our system’s inability to eliminate any harmful elements in our body quickly, but through genomics, we may be able to modify our DNA to prevent these diseases from occurring.

Nutrigenomics

Nutrigenomics is a sub-branch of genomics that deals with the connection of genomes with the nutrition that we get on food. As previously stated, each human has a unique genome, and scientists are trying to discover if our DNA can also have preferences as to which nutrients it prioritizes and minimizes.

Due to the soaring popularity of dieting and healthy living, people are becoming curious if they actually get sufficient nutrients from the food that they are eating. Using the discoveries in nutrigenomics in the future, each person may be able to know which vitamins and minerals are absorbed the most in his or her body, thus creating a very personal nutrition plan that relies on genes.

Cytogenetics

Cytogenetics focuses more on the elements in our body that are much smaller than genomes, which are the chromosomes.

With the help of cytogenetics, the studies in genomes will be much more focused as researchers will be able to identify the smallest intricacies in a person’s DNA by figuring out the functions of chromosomes in the strands of DNA.

In addition, further development in cytogenetics will allow scientists to see someday if there are irregularities in our chromosomes even without the use of a microscope.

Behavior Genetics

Behavior genetics is a field of science that aims to find out if our genes and the environment that we are living in affects our personality.

To further prove that there is a connection between a human’s gene and their living environment when it comes to constructing behavior, there have been several methodologies that are conducted to validate the claim.

One of the methodologies used in researching behavior genetics is family studies. As each parent share 50 percent of their genes to their offspring, scientists have determined that children could have the same personality traits as their parents not only due to being in the same environments as their mother and father but also because of having similar genes.

Synthetic Biology

Due to the recent advancements in technology, researchers are able to study and theorize ways to install or apply synthetically constructed body parts and systems in organisms.

Craig Venter, a prominent figure in synthetic biological, was able to create the whole genome of a bacterium in 2008 by putting chemical components together, which is a breakthrough in modern science since many believe that we cannot make a living thing unnaturally. After two years, Venter’s team was able to expand on the discovery by creating a synthetic life by digitally constructing DNA and imprinting it in a bacterium.

In 2012, the first computer model of a living organism was completed. Due to this discovery, we may be able to construct an artificial life that can replace humans in doing hazardous tasks or duties in the far future. Also, creating synthetic bacteria can be helpful in mass-producing medicine, which will lower the price of pills and supplements that are quite expensive presently.

Neuroethics

Along with helping in the development of synthetic biology, technology has also permitted us to study the functions and the complexness of the brain further. These studies of the brain belong to a field called neuroscience.

However, the analyses on the human brain can be quite dangerous, as one small misstep in experimenting can lead to a massive problem that can lead to damages and loss of brain function for research subjects. As such, neuroethics is developed in order to investigate the boundaries that a living being’s brain should never cross when it comes to experimentation and discovery.

The field of science also tackles the positives and the negatives of regularly using psychotropic drugs and neuroimaging on experimented subjects while determining whether or not it is ethical to continue these practices for the sake of research.

While many sciences mostly aim to go beyond what we know, there should be limitations applied to the study and experimentation on certain elements in the physical world, and one of those elements is the human body.