Molecular biology

Molecular biology

Molecular biology is one of the areas of modern biology, the purpose of which is to study the internal organization of life processes at the molecular level. Molecular biology emerged as an independent scientific discipline in the early 50s. this century as a result of the accumulation of knowledge about the structure and functions of such important chemical compounds as proteins and nucleic acids.

The task of molecular biology is to explain the subtle mechanisms of such processes as heredity, movement, memory, etc.

High-molecular chemical compounds (macromolecules) became the immediate subject of study of molecular biology. Macromolecules are not simply conglomerates of many smaller molecules. Their huge molecular weight (up to hundreds of millions of daltons) determines the appearance of such new qualitative properties that are not present in the low molecular weight components that form these macromolecules.

A detailed study of macromolecules (their chemical and physical properties, synthesis and breakdown in the body, biological functions, etc.) became possible after the creation of new instrumental methods for studying the structure of various chemical compounds, improving methods for their isolation and purification, obtaining many of them in crystalline form. form, etc.

The very formation of molecular biology turned out to be possible only thanks to comprehensive research by scientists in various fields of natural science. The development of molecular biology was directly influenced by: organic chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, genetics, cytology, mathematics and many other sciences.

Two types of macromolecules have attracted particular attention: proteins and nucleic acids. Proteins are one of the main structural components of living tissues and perform important biological functions. Nucleic acids are the material carrier of hereditary information. The study of nucleic acids using molecular biology methods allows us to better understand the laws of heredity and the causes of hereditary diseases.