Molecular Biology

The study of organisms beyond a microscopic level is known as molecular biology. It focuses on the relationships between biomolecules and cells, including the interaction between them and DNA, RNA, and proteins as well as protein's biosynthesis (when proteins are generated by cells). Molecular biology is used in a wide variety of other sciences, including biochemistry and genetics.

Molecular biology's origins go back to the 1930s. Warren Weaver, a scientists and director for the Rockefeller Foundation, coined the molecular biology as a term in 1938. With advances in systems of x-ray technology, he believed that biology was going to go under significant changes. It would of course go on to change how we viewed microorganisms, and let scientists see what was going on beyond the microscope.

Molecular biology helps fuel studies in clinical research as well as medical therapies. Some of these are covered in gene therapy, which involves delivering nucleic acid polymers to a patient's cells in order to treat diseases. The first attempt of this was in 1980 by Martin Gene, but it would not be until 1990 that the first transfusion of human DNA into the genome was performed by French Anderson. Since then, over 2,300 clinical trials have occurred.

Molecular biology has a large hand in biochemistry, which is the study of vital processes and chemical substances in organisms. Biochemists often focus on the function, role, and structure of biomolecules. This can include studying biological processes as well as synthesis of biologically active molecules.

Genetics, which is the study of genes and the differences between organisms, also has a large part in molecular biology. To be able to study mutations in species, molecular biology allows them to see what is different in the DNA and RNA of the organisms, as well as help pinpoint the exact cause of the mutation.

Much of molecular biology is quantitative, meaning it needs to be seen in order for the test to be confirmed one way or the other. This requires a lot of computational power, and can only really be done by bioinformatics and computational biology. With advances in the early 2000s, molecular genetics has arisen from molecular biology, and focuses mostly on cell biology and developmental biology.

Molecular biology has changed biology forever. With advances into new computational power, we will understand organisms, microorganisms, and their many different components. As we delve deeper, we will uncover more secrets that lay at even a sub-molecular level, and a new science will be born that day.


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