%0 Journal Article %A Paul Nurse %T The great ideas of biology %D 2003 %R 10.7861/clinmedicine.3-6-560 %J Clinical Medicine %P 560-568 %V 3 %N 6 %X Four of the great ideas of biology are discussed: the cell as the basic structural and functional unit of life, the gene as the mechanism of heredity, evolution by natural selection, and life as chemistry. A fifth idea is explored whereby biological organisation is explained in terms of logical and informational processes and structures. %U https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/clinmedicine/3/6/560.full.pdf