Anatomy is a branch of Biology, with a focus on the structure of organisms and their different parts. Anatomy observes our body and how it functions. It gives us a better understanding of how our body interacts within itself, as well as how it operates. With further understanding of how and why our body works, we have been able to unlock mysteries hidden within our own bodies.

Anatomy has two different sections, macroscopic, which is using just your eyes to examine things, and microscopic, using a lens or tool to enhance your eyesight to see things you cannot see with the naked eye. In microscopic, a common tool used is a microscope, which allows for constant viewing or other imaging devices such as a camera, which can give scientists a clear still or moving picture to analyze in detail.

Anatomy, as we know it, comes from ancient Greece in the city of Alexandria. At that time (500 BCE), the city had the largest medical records library in all the world. It was here that human dissection (taking out individual parts out of a body) and what lies within was advanced to the next stage of medicine. This was not the first recorded dissection of humans, as the ancient Egyptians (1600 BCE) would describe different parts of the body such as the heart, kidney, and other organs. Anatomy would not advance much further until 1489 with Leonardo da Vinci's over 700 anatomical sketches and drawings.

Human anatomy is a basis of modern medicine. It allows us to label our bones, organs, muscles, and even our nervous system. Anatomy has helped uncover a lot of secrets about our DNA. The Human Genome Project (2003 AD) mapped out our DNA into a series of letters to help break it down into a readable format. However, this would not have been possible without the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA in 1953.

Many procedures in medicine have also benefited from anatomy, and lead to the creation of machines to help create a complete image of a person's body. There are two scans that are primarily used, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computer Assisted Tomography (CAT scan). Without these devices, we would not have a clear picture of what is going on inside someone's body, and we would not be able to detect cancerous tumors that are located within organs.

Anatomy is something that we need, and without it we would have hardly made any advances in medicine. To be able to treat, you need to first understand the regular state of the damaged area, which can only be done through observations of our body and how it functions.

Related Links: Science Biology Branches of Biology