I have studied Molecular Biology, mostly at Brebeuf, in the Biology Class and, somewhat, at the Faculty of Medicine in Strasbourg. The classes I have attended cover the same matter that is seen in The Beginner Guide. Molecular Biology is a life's science and shall now be part of the curriculum of the Basic Sciences of Biology. It is why I came to include it among the list of matters to be seen during the premedical years . Molecular Biology is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as "the branch of biology that deals with the formation, structure, and activity of macromolecules essential to life, such as nucleic acids, amino-acids, and proteins, and especially with their role in cell replication and the transmission of genetic information." Its has many applications in:

  1. biotechnology which is " the use of microorganisms, such as bacteria or yeasts, or biological substances, such as enzymes, to perform specific industrial or manufacturing processes. Exemples include the production of certain drugs, synthetic hormones, and bulk foodstuffs as well as the bioconversion of organic waste and the use of genetically altered bacteria in the cleanup of oil spills." (AHD)
  2. a. bioengineering, a specialty of the later and mostly genetic engineering, which is the application of the principles of engineering* and technology to the life sciences; . b. ergonomics whis is "the applied science of equipment design, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort (AHD) ; i.e., economy at the work place, gaining more in doing less or, in other words, the rational organization of the job "

The Beginner Guide in Molecular Biology is a good tool and book to begin with, to study the matter. Click on it.

Besides those definitions above, we can understand best Molecular Biology by finding how it linked to other scientific, old fields and came to be an entity by itself.

  1. Molecular Biology overlaps the field of Cytology and that of Genetics that it links.
  2. Concerning the evolution theory, one can say that the gradualism of the evolution of Darwin is best explained on a molecular basis, thus by Molecular Biology, than is the evolution by punctuated equilibrium.    ( page reservee a l'auteur).
  3. Althouh I Admit that Molecular Biology can be related to Ergonomics, I wll not confuse it with that science like others do, since Ergonomics go beyond Molecular Biology.
  4. Molecular Biology also links the physiology and the chemistry of the cell, by explaining traits or cell variations with molecular or chemical structure.
  5. Finally, Molecular Biology relates more to informatics than any other field of biology; it is mostly Bioinformatics; that is why it came to be called improperly ergonomics.

And this letter to a friend and journalist:

June 1, 2006

Hello Carl How do you do?

Science of the Week

This week has been uploaded a text in English on Molecular Biology. The later is a new field in Biology that deals mostly with DNA, the molecule that directs the cells of our body and that makes our genes. DNA is the "intelligent" molecule and, inside the body, it reproduces (replicates) itself spontaneously. Molecular Biology is the field of biology which applications are gene-splicing and genetic analysis or genomic construction. With gene-splicing, DNA from one or more different organisms are combined to form recombinant DNA and are made to function within the cells of a host organism to confer it new traits. It is the tool of biotechnology. With genomic construction we collect data on all genes inside our body in order to better understand their relation to illness, behavior, physical characteristics and evolution. We can even build new organisms or make exact copy of organisms (remember the sheep); it might be of some help to endangered species .

The page is itself linked to a web site on Molecular Biology that gives a map of the human genom and gene cards linking some diseases to gene traits or gene alterations. It is new; it is fantastic, it looks phantasmic. Nevertheless, we shall be on our guard because we can easily be mislead, if we did not take enough care. It is like a nuclear bomb in our hands.

 

FRANCAIS:

Biologie Moléculaire: La biologie moléculaire est cette nouvelle branche de la chimie qui étudie les phénomènes biologiques à l'échelle des interactions et des transformations qui se produisent au niveau des molécules qui composent l'unité de matière vivante--la CELLULE dont l'etude structurelle et fonctionelle est la cytologie. La biologie moléculaire se distingue de la chimie organique qui n'étudie que la structure moléculaire de la matière vivante, de la biochimie, la chimie biologique, qui ne se restreint pas seulement à l'étude des phénomenes intermoléculaires et de la microbiologie qui étudie principalement les organismes procaryotes et leurs prédecesseurs. Les quatre se distinguent de la physiologie (et de la physiologie cellulaire; "cell physiology") qui étudie les phénomènes biodynamiques ou vitaux à l'échelle macroscopique (microscopique) et de l' anatomie (et de l'histologie) qui étudie les caractéristiques structurelles d'un organisme à l'échelle macroscopique (microscopique). Pour plus de clarté, référons nous au diagramme suivant qui va du plus petit au plus grand, de la microscopie à la macroscopie, du particulier a l'ensemble:

Étude mettant l'accent sur la fonction

Étude mettant l'accent sur la structure

biologie moléculaire
Chimie organique
biochimie, chimie biologique
cytologie, biologie cellulaire
physiologie cellulaire
histologie
physiologie
anatomie

Pour vous en donner une idee, deux des principaux chapitres:

  1. de la biochimie sont: l'enzymologie et le metabolisme,
  2. de la biologie moleculaire: les intearctions entre les molecules d'acides nucleiques (replication de l'ADN, transcription et translation) et le code genetique,
  3. de la physiologie cellulaire: le transport membranaire et la transmission synaptique,
  4. de la physiologie: la circulation et la digestion
  5. de la cytologie: la structure de la cellule et l'organisation des organelles intracytoplasmiques
  6. de l'histologie: le tissu hepatique et le tissu digestif
  7. de l'anatomie: la structure du coeur et l'organisation du squelette

Souvent ces matieres sont integrees. Par exemple, la physiologie cellulaire est souvent vue avec la physiologie, la biologie moleculaire avec la cytologie ou la biochimie, et l'histologie avec l'anatomie.

 

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* Engineering: The application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems; bioengineering is the design and the building of new characteristics whether it applies to macromolecules, cells or any living organism; while pasteurization of milk, brewing of beer and fermentation of yogurt are important biotechnological processes, they are only that, but grafting and cloning are already bioengineering and selective breeding and hybridation are also genetic engineering; corn has been selectively bred for increased kernel size and number and for nutritional content for about 7000 years by the Amerindians; one of the first western word genetic engineer and the first modern genetic engineer is Gregoire Mendel.

 

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