Interesting Biology Essay Topics & Research Papers

Biology Essay Topics

Have you ever noticed how interesting the study of biology is? As life forms, it’s incredible how we and all other forms of life are entwined with organic substances that sustain us in surviving and thriving. The study of biology spawns many interesting topics for essays and research papers.

Simply put, Biology is the study of living things. The core biology knowledge covers various aspects of living beings like chemical components, structure, and how they act under different conditions. It is beneficial to understand these facts if you write an essay on biology. Here are some topics that will help you out in writing your essay.

15 Top Biology Research Topics

In a friendly tone: The following is a list of 15 top biology research topics:

  1. Mycology (the study of fungi)
  2. Plant pathology (the study of plant diseases)
  3. Human anatomy (the study of human bodily structures)
  4. Microbiology (the study of microorganisms)
  5. Immunology (the study of the immune system)
  6. Parasitology (the study of parasites and their hosts)
  7. Entomology (the study of insects)
  8. Histology (the study of tissues and cells)
  9. Pharmacology (the study of drugs and their effects on the body)
  10. Ethology (the study of animal behavior)
  11. Phycology (the study of algae)
  12. Ecology (the scientific examination of ecosystems and interactions between organisms and their environment)
  13. Molecular biology (the science that deals with the structure, function, growth, reproduction, evolution, and genetics of living organisms at the level of molecules such as DNA and RNA).
  14. Why do most plants have cells with a nucleus, but animals do not (or vice versa)? Explain whether there was an evolutionary advantage for this change in structure over time.)
  15. How are genes inherited from parents to offspring, and what changes occur during this process? Also, discuss how these changes affect behavior or appearance within populations over time and what kinds of diseases may be caused by different types of mutations.)

10 Areas of Research in Biology

Here’s a look at 20 areas of research in biology to research about:

  1. Agriculture – this area of biology studies how plants and animals can be used to meet human food needs.
  2. Botany – the first botanists were those who simply studied plants for their own sake.
  3. Cellular Biology – this area studies cells and their components at the molecular level.
  4. Developmental Biology – scientists in this field study how living things develop from one stage to another throughout their life cycles.
  5. Biochemistry. The study of chemistry is related to living organisms, their functions, and the molecular processes within a living cell.
  6. Developmental biology. This is the study of how living organisms grow, develop, produce offspring and eventually die.
  7. Cellular biology. A branch of biology that studies the structure and function of cells in the body includes studying how individual cells work together as a unit and how they interact with their environment.
  8. Genetics. In the study of heredity, cellular genetics focuses on the genetic material in cells. In contrast, organismic genetics focuses on genetic material related to entire organisms instead of single cells.
  9. Microbiology. The study of microscopic life forms; includes bacteria, protists, and fungi, which are all studied by a microbiologist who seeks to understand the origins and behavior patterns of microbes and their relationship to human health and disease development.
  10. Immunology. In the study of the immune system, immunologists seek to learn how the immune system functions in its normal condition and when it becomes compromised by illness or disease.

28 Top Interesting Biology Essay Topics

Here are 15 interesting topics you can use for your essays:

  1. Evolution of the human brain and intelligence
  2. Structure of the cell membrane and how it is affected by temperature changes
  3. The impact of genomics on the field of medicine and its future
  4. The role of stem cells in regenerative medicine
  5. The usefulness of stem cells in organ transplantation
  6. What is global warming?
  7. What are diseases caused by gene mutations? How do they affect human life?
  8. What are mutant genes? How do they affect human life?
  9. The role of mutated genes in cancer development and treatment
  10. The part of genes in regulating metabolism in cells throughout their life cycle
  11. How does DNA control protein synthesis? How does it affect humans’ lives?
  12. How does RNA control protein synthesis? How does it affect humans’ lives?
  13. How does DNA cause mutations in cells throughout their life cycle? How does this affect humans’ lives?
  14. Why are viruses not considered living organisms even though they have DNA and replicate inside cells that are alive and functioning properly?
  15. How drugs affect the body
  16. The history of reproductive cloning
  17. Cell movement in sponges
  18. The process of photosynthesis
  19. The mechanism behind osmosis
  20. How does mutation change cells?
  21. Anatomy of grasshopper
  22. How do animals adapt to their habitat?
  23. The cellular respiration process
  24. How do bacteria survive in extreme conditions?
  25. Chemical processes behind digestion in humans and animals
  26. The differences between mitosis and meiosis
  27. How do the stomata work on plants?
  28. What causes mutations?

16 Biological Topics for High School

Use the list below to get a good idea of the topics:

  1. Is the study of genetic engineering beneficial?
  2. What is the difference between organic and non-organic food?
  3. How can humans live longer?
  4. Why are some people more prone to developing cancer?
  5. Can any person become an astronaut? If not, why not? If yes, how?
  6. What is more critical: genes or environment? Explain why you chose one side or another in your biology essay example for high school.
  7. What influences human health: physical activity or healthy eating habits?
  8. Are there any health risks related to genetic engineering in agriculture?
  9. The Human Body: When you study biology, you’ll want to learn about the human body’s various systems and how they work.
  10. Genetics: Genetics is another area of biology that high school students often have to study.
  11. Cells: Many different cells make up the human body, including muscle cells and brain cells.
  12. DNA – Students need to be familiar with the structure of DNA and what it does
  13. Cellular Respiration – Students should understand how cells produce energy for the body through respiration.
  14. Evolution – Students should understand that organisms have changed over time due to mutations and environmental pressures that either allow them to survive or not.
  15. Photosynthesis – Students should understand how plants use photosynthesis to convert the sun’s energy into plants’ food.
  16. Homeostasis – Students should be able to identify examples of homeostasis within the body, such as regulating temperature and blood sugar levels by organ systems and organs (e.g., lungs, kidneys, liver, etc.).

14 History of Biology Topics

If you have to write a biology paper, but don’t know what topic to choose, here are ten exciting ideas for your project.

  1. The history of cell theory: All life is made up of cells, and all cells come from pre-existing cells
  2. The history of the microscope: Microscopes enable us to see things that cannot be seen with the naked eye
  3. The history of the gene: Genes can be defined as units of hereditary information contained within DNA molecules
  4. The history of Darwin’s theory of evolution: Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859, and it was based on an observation that species change over time
  5. The history of Mendel’s laws of inheritance: Gregor Mendel discovered two laws that explain how traits are inherited by offspring from their parents
  6. The history of classification: Classification helps us to identify and group organisms into categories based on similar characteristics
  7. The history of viruses: Viruses are infectious agents that need to replicate inside a host organism to survive
  8. The history of genetics: Gregor Mendel published his research on the inheritance pattern for specific traits in pea plants in 1866.
  9. The history of hominid evolution: tool use and bipedalism in early humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans, modern humans and the peopling of the world, ancestry from human fossils, human adaptations to different environments over time.
  10. The relationship between natural philosophy and biology before 1800 and the impact of this distinction on the history of biology.
  11. Vesalius’s contributions to the development of anatomy and physiology.
  12. Aristotle believed in 3 main categories of living organisms: plant, animal, and human.
  13. Taxonomy and systematics: The emergence of evolutionary theory, including Darwin and Wallace’s ideas, in the 19th century.
  14. The Babylonians and Egyptians: The study of nature was a part of early civilizations, including Babylonia, Egypt, and Greece.

Bottom Line

The topic of biology is fascinating as it helps us understand how life forms work and how they interact with each other. This helps us understand our place in Earth’s delicate web of life. These three topics deal with microorganisms, so they are interesting and complex enough to strike a chord with any student researching the topic. If you are looking for a fascinating subject in biology, choose one of these three ideas and write an excellent paper on it.