What is Molecular Biology?
Molecular Biology is the study of the molecular basis of life using molecular approaches. More specifically, it is the study of gene (DNA) structure and function. You may choose to enroll in the Honours Biochemistry programme and specialize in the Molecular Biology stream, or to enroll in the Honours Molecular Biology programme administered jointly between the departments of Biology, Biochemistry and Pathology & Molecular Medicine.
A molecular description of cell function. DNA, protein, carbohydrates and fats are part of our everyday language. To a scientist they are the macromolecules (large molecules) that determine some of our traits, give us the energy to move and think, and power the processes that allow us to function. Molecular Biologists ask “HOW”. How does one tiny change in my DNA make my cells more susceptible to cancer? How is muscle turned to fat? How do my cells know when to release hormones? Molecular Biologists seek answers to questions like these by studying the structure, function and interaction of the macromolecules. Their goal is to provide a molecular description of cell function. The answers to such questions lie at the intersection of Biology and Chemistry. In the scientific literature, interdisciplinary research efforts are common. In the classroom, biological topics are frequently addressed by chemists, and the chemistry of biological processes are often treated by biologists. The Molecu
Molecular biology is a field of biology that looks at the molecular machinery of life. The field was founded in the early 1930s, though the phrase was only used in 1938 and the field didn’t take off until the late 50s and early 60s. Since then, progress in the field has been massive. The field began with the x-ray crystallography of various important biological molecules. Now, crystallography databases store the molecular structure of tens of thousands of these molecules. Understanding of these proteins both helps us understand how the body works and how to fix it when it breaks down. Truly modern molecular biology emerged with the uncovering of the structure of DNA in the 1960s and concurrent advances in biochemistry and genetics. Molecular biology is one of three primary molecular-scale biological sciences, the others being biochemistry and genetics. There is no clear division between the three, but they do have general domains. Broadly speaking, biochemistry looks at the function of
Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interrelationship of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and learning how these interactions are regulated. Writing in Nature, W.T. Astbury described molecular biology as: “… not so much a technique as an approach, an approach from the viewpoint of the so-called basic sciences with the leading idea of searching below the large-scale manifestations of classical biology for the corresponding molecular plan. It is concerned particularly with the forms of biological molecules and ….. is predominantly three-dimensional and structural – which does not mean, however, that it is merely a refinement of morphology – it must at the same time inquire into genesis and function” [Nature 190, 1124 (1961)] Researchers in mol
Molecular biology is the science of study of biology at the molecular level. William Astbury in Nature described molecular biology as: “… not so much a technique as an approach, an approach from the viewpoint of the so-called basic sciences with the leading idea of searching below the large-scale manifestations of classical biology for the corresponding molecular plan. It is concerned particularly with the forms of biological molecules and ….. is predominantly three-dimensional and structural – which does not mean, however, that it is merely a refinement of morphology – it must at the same time inquire into genesis and function” (W.T. Astbury, Nature 190, 1124. 1961) Molecular biology has allowed us to uncover the mysteries of the human body, viruses, bacteria and all other life. As such, it has allowed the progress of medicine to advance to such a degree so that we may begin to cure the previously incurable, and to eventually find cures for every disease that afflicts human kind.
