Biology: Websites

Fostering scientific freedom and responsibility, improving the effectiveness of science.

Umbrella organization for professional scientific societies and organizations. Offers biomedical and scientific peer review, meetings, and educational programs.

Devoted to fostering scientific research, education, and the dissemination of scientific information in the physiological sciences.

Working to advance the sciences through publication of journals, organization of scientific meetings, and advocacy for funding of basic research and education.

The ASCB strives to ensure the future of basic scientific research by providing training and development opportunities for students and young investigators, and also by keeping Congress and the American public informed about the importance of biomedical research.

The major professional organization in the field. The "Learn About Microbiology" area is most useful.

Promotes the development of plant physiology, encourages and publishes research, and promotes the interests and growth of plant science in general.

Mission is to sustain and provide improved formal and informal education about plants; encourage basic plant research; provide expertise, direction, and position statements concerning plants and ecosystems; and foster communication within the professional botanical community, and between botanists and the rest of humankind through publications, meetings, and committees.

A nonprofit organization of scientists founded to: stimulate sound ecological research and to promote the responsible application of ecological knowledge.

The GSA seeks to foster a unified science of genetics and to maximize its intellectual and practical impact. Current programs address these goals by promoting investigation, interaction, communication and education.

The Association promotes education, discussion, integration and dissemination of research on all aspects of human biology.

Empowers educators to provide the best possible biology and life science education for all students.

U.S. government agency responsible for promoting science and engineering through programs that invest money in research and education projects in science.

"Citizens and scientists for environmental solutions." Global warming, energy, endangered species, pollution, and more.

Solid research information on a broad range of biological issues as they relate to the environment. From the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

Links to websites selected by real people for the quality of information. Divided into many subtopics. Drill down through them or search the entire directory.

Descriptions of the hundreds of freshwater regions all over the globe. Has lists of threatened species, biodiversity, etc. From the Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund.

Explores how sustainable development practices affect biological systems. The "Our Knowledge" section may be the most useful.

Delivers the tools and services needed to understand, predict, and respond to the challenges we face along America's 95,000 miles of shoreline and 3.5 million square miles of coastal, Great Lakes, and deep-ocean waters.

Information on how various biological areas interconnect in studying the environment.

Information on the major biological communities (deserts, forests, etc.) and how they are changing. From the University of California.

Part of the National Science Foundation. Promotes biotech education and career information.

Wide variety of information, including a basic primer, advanced databases, human genome resources, etc.

Covers issues, ethics, applications, and history of the biotech industry.

Peer reviewed articles by scientists, science educators, and science students on issues related to six bioscience content areas: environment, biodiversity, genomics, biotechnology, evolution, and science policy. In addition, information is provided for educators, that explains how the use of issues in biological sciences teaching is firmly rooted in an inquiry-based approach to bioscience education.

Covers biological issues from an agricultural perspective. You can browse or search topics. Strong on areas such as genetic engineering, insects, and plants.

"(BHL) is a consortium of 12 natural history and botanical libraries that cooperate to digitize and make accessible the legacy literature of biodiversity held in their collections and to make that literature available for open access and responsible use as a part of a global “biodiversity commons.” BHL also serves as the foundational literature component of the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL)."

Biology dictionary, tutorials, articles, books, and more. Part of the Scientific American Partner Network.

From the University of Arizona. Covers a broad range of biological disciplines with tutorials and quizzes.

BEN is the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Pathway for biological sciences education. Over 15,319 reviewed resources covering 77 biological sciences topics are available.

The Catalogue of Life is a quality-assured checklist of more than 1.3 million species of plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms.

Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is a video journal for biological research.

Written by a retired Harvard instructor. Search or use the alphabetical list or the topics list.

Linus Pauling Online, maintained by Oregon State University, is an admirable compendium of Pauling's immense contributions to the understanding of the molecules that shape our world, and of the issues in the scientific, biomedical, and political spheres that fascinated him over a long, productive life.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the premier science universities. They make all of their courses available on the web. There are over 3 dozen biiology courses listed.

A media-savvy group of physicians and researchers from Cambridge University who use radio, live lectures, and the Internet to strip science down to its bare essentials, and promote it to the general public.

"Learn more about research and monitoring on freshwater, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems and the fish and wildlife within them. Healthy ecosystems provide our society with essential ecosystem services, such as crop pollination, water and air purification, harvestable populations of fish and wildlife, soil replenishment, pest control, and nutrient cycling."

Videos from Nature magazine.

Protocol Online is a database of research protocols in a variety of life science fields. It contains protocols contributed by worldwide researchers as well as links to web protocols hosted by worldwide research labs, biotech companies, personal web sites.

Several modules on biiology toopics, mainly on cellular biology and genetics. From a City University of New York.

"A free science library and personal learning tool brought to you by Nature Publishing Group, the world's leading publisher of science. Scitable currently concentrates on genetics, the study of evolution, variation, and the rich complexity of living organisms."

Here you will find taxonomic information on animals, plants from around the world.

"The Bio-Web: Your source for Molecular and Cell Biology-Bioinformatics-Technology news and online bio-resources."

Career, education and research information.

Well-designed site featuring animations depicting functions of cell biology.

Animations and illustrations of cells and their processes.

The DNA Learning Center has had a strong web presence since the early days of the World Wide Web in 1993. We now maintain 16 sites with content and tools to enhance science education for a broad audience." Provided by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

A science education booklet by the National Institutes of Health that explores the interior design of cells and vividly describes the processes that take place within its organelles and structures. Each chapter includes a few review questions.

Teacher resources and lesson plans from the University of Utah.

Links to animations on molecular and cellular biology. Use the "Showcase" and "Learning" buttons to see the lists. Can be arranged by topic or by level.

This site is the central repository for all HMP data. The aim of the HMP is to characterize microbial communities found at multiple human body sites and to look for correlations between changes in the microbiome and human health

Covers DNA, genes, chromosomes, the human genome, and more. By Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Site consists of photographs, scientific documents, video and audio clips that follows the progress of DNA discoveries.

The official US government site on stem cells and the policies overseeing their use.

"A freely accessible, easy-to-search, public repository of reviewed and annotated images, videos, and animations of cells from a variety of organisms, showcasing cell architecture, intracellular functionalities, and both normal and abnormal processes."

Tutorial that explains the basics of cells and DNA. Nice visuals and clear explanations. From the University of Utah.

Animated tour of a cell from the National Science Foundation. Click on the parts of the cell to get a basic explanation of its role.

Online book covers the ethical, legal, and social issues of the Human Geonome Project.

The "Top 5" 3D Molecular Visualization Technologies
for the rest of us...*
* ...who do not solve protein structures. Wilth tutorials for students, educators and researchers.

Foodborn pathogenic microorganisms and toxins are covered. From the FDA and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Download this book free!

"The purpose of this site is to provide access to microbiology related information that has been developed or managed by the Agency. EPA methods related to bacteria, viruses and protozoans can be found at this site."

Microbiology portal, from microbiologist, Dr. Al Chan.

Wide range of introductory material on microbes. Scan the opening page for broad topics or search for specifics. From Carleton College.

Fungi and the infections they cause are covered. From a professor in Australia.

12 half-hour videos covering the major areas of microbiology. From Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Essentially an online textbook about the digestive system. Each section has an icon to show if it is basic, core information, or more advanced. From Colorado State University.

Nice photos of the human skeleton. You can also see videos and additional info on each bone by using the menu on the detail photos. From the University of Texas. You can also see skeletons of other primates.

Human anatomy and physiology animations. Nicely done.

Interactive and educational views of the human body using animations and illustrations.

Interesting site on the human brain, including its structure. Has other brain-related topics especially relating to artificial intelligence.

Clear illustrations and brief descriptions of the muscles of humans. Divided into Upper and Lower Extremities. From the University of Washington.

Links from human anatomy andphysiology specifically for nursing students.

Interactive 3D human anatomy model. Highly recommended. Free registration required.

Self-assessment tests on human anatomy. From the University of Minnesota.

"Charles Darwin’s Library is a digital edition and virtual reconstruction of the surviving books owned by Charles Darwin.'

From Cambridge University, this website contains over 90,000 pages of searchable text and 207,000 electronic images, at least one exemplar of all known Darwin publications, reproduced to the highest scholarly standards, both as searchable text and electronic images of the originals.

Seven short videos on evolution from the Public Broadcasting Service.

"Exploring the creation/evolution controversy. "A site where anyone can post their thoughts on this topic.

An online system that provides access to information on amphibian declines, conservation, natural history, and taxonomy.

"A database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology" from the University of Michigan.

Checklists, articles, and links for the world of life.

A portal to a variety of websites on invasive species and natural resources management.

The digitization of Zeno Metcalf's personal library through DrMetcalf provides a freely searchable resource that is particularly important for specialists in entomology, zoology, agriculture, and the life sciences.

This site describes itself as "an ambitious project to organize and make available via the Internet virtually all information about life present on Earth." They plan to have a page on each organism on earty.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's site for information on rulemakings, recover plans and activities, research developments, etc.

Photographs and movies of insects and the damage they cause. From Iowa State University Entomology.

The Field Museum of Natural History links to research sites supporting their botanical and geological collections.

FishBase on the web contains practically all fish species known to science.

Forestry Images is a joint project of the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, USDA Forest Service and International Society of Arboriculture.

Currently contains 4400 terms relating to botany, gardening, horticulture and landscape architecture and is regularly updated.

Links to high quality web sites. Created by several distinguished botanists from around the world.

"JSTOR Plant Science is an online environment that brings together content, tools, and people interested in plant science. It provides access to foundational content vital to plant science – plant type specimens, taxonomic structures, scientific literature, and related materials, making them widely accessible to the plant science community as well as to researchers in other fields and to the public."

This website grew out of the activities of Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff, who did the photographic fieldwork for the book Lichens of North America, by Irwin M.Brodo and the Sharnoffs, published in November, 2001 by Yale University Press.

houses a unique and largely forgotten colletion of six million Migration Observer Cards that illuminate migration patterns and population status of birds in North America.

"The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories," from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Gathers available knowledge about coral reefs into one infomation repository. It is intended to facilitate analyses and montiotring of coral reef health and the quality of life of reef-dependent people.

Large collection of close-ups of plant structures including some animations. From the Univeristy of Miami

The diversity of all organisms, living and extinct. Their evolution, phylogeny, and characteristics. Search by keyword or use graphics to follow the tree's branches.