Name: Armie Rose G. Faldas Course, Year and Sec.

: BSEd Science 3A
Date: Jan. 28, 2021

Assessment No. 1
Chapter 1. Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology

I. Answer the following questions comprehensively.

1. Define Cell Biology.

 Cell biology is a branch of biology that studies cells physiological properties,
their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment,
their life cycle, division, death and cell function.

2. Define Molecular Biology.

 Molecular biology is the study of biology on a molecular level including the
structure, function, and makeup of biologically important molecules such as
DNA, RNA, and proteins.

3. What is the relationship between Cell Biology and Molecular Biology?

 Cell and Molecular Biology is the study of cells and the macromolecules (DNA,
RNA, protein, lipids, and carbohydrates) that define their structure and function.
They focus fundamentally as to how all living organisms develop, survive and
evolve.

4. Enumerate the scope of Cell Biology, then choose one from your list and explain.
 Scope of cell biology are:
 Active and Passive Transport
 Cell Adhesion
 Cell Division
 Cell Signaling
 Cellular Metabolism
Cell adhesion is the process by which cells interact and attach to neighboring
cells through specialized molecules of the cell surface. This process can occur either
through direct contact between cell surfaces such as cell junctions or indirect interaction,
where cells attach to surrounding extracellular matrix, a gel-like structure containing
molecules released by cells into spaces between them. Cells adhesion occurs from the
interactions between cell-adhesion molecules (CAMs), transmembrane proteins located
on the cell surface. Cell adhesion links cells in different ways and can be involved in
signal transduction for cells to detect and respond to changes in the surroundings.
5. Enumerate the scope of Molecular Biology, then choose one from your list and
explain.
 Scope of molecular biology are:
 Comparative Genomics
 DNA Forensics
 Functional Genomics
 Gene Therapy
 Genomics
 Molecular Genetics
 Pharmacogenomics
 Proteomics
 Structural Genomics
 Toxicogenomics
Comparative genomics is a field of biological research in which the genomic
features of different organisms are compared. The genomic features may include the
DNA sequence, genes, gene order, regulatory sequences, and other genomic structural
landmarks. In this branch of genomics, whole or large parts of genomes resulting from
genome projects are compared to study basic biological similarities and differences as
well as evolutionary relationships between organisms. The major principle of
comparative genomics is that common features of two organisms will often be encoded
within the DNA that is evolutionarily conserved between them. Therefore, comparative
genomic approaches start with making some form of alignment of genome sequences
and looking for orthologous sequences (sequences that share a common ancestry) in the
aligned genomes and checking to what extent those sequences are conserved.

6. Enumerate the common techniques used in cell and molecular biology today, then
choose one from your list and explain and give an example, if possible.
 Common techniques used in cell and molecular biology today are:
 Molecular cloning
 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
 Gel electrophoresis
 Macromolecule blotting and probing
 DNA arrays and microarrays
Molecular cloning is a set of experimental methods in molecular biology that
are used to assemble recombinant DNA molecules and to direct their replication within
host organisms. The use of the word cloning refers to the fact that the method involves
the replication of one molecule to produce a population of cells with identical DNA
molecules. Molecular cloning generally uses DNA sequences from two different
organisms: the species that is the source of the DNA to be cloned, and the species that
will serve as the living host for replication of the recombinant DNA. Molecular cloning
methods are central to many contemporary areas of modern biology and medicine.
Name: Armie Rose G. Faldas Course, Year and Sec.: BSEd Science 3A
Date: Jan. 28, 2021

Activity No. 1
Chapter 1. Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology
Activity Title: Tracing the History

I. Trace the history of Cell and Molecular Biology. Complete the table below.

YEAR SCIENTIST CONTRIBUTION

They concluded that all animals and plants,

Aristotle and however, complicated are constituted by few
Ancient time
Paracelsus elements which are repeated in each one of
them.

The beginning of cell biology dates back to

1485 Leonardo Da Vinci the 15th century has stressed the use of
lenses in viewing small objects.

He gave the first description of the cell in his

1658 Jan Swammerdam
account of the red blood cells of the frog.

The term cytology came in its actual

existence with the discovery of cell while
examining a thin slice of cork under his
1665 Robert Hooke crude compound microscope, Hooke
observed its honey-combed structure. He
gave them the name "cells" (cellulae-little
room).

He studied a variety of animal tissues

microscopically and therefore, he is generally
1665 Marcello Malphighi
considered as the father of 'microscopic
anatomy'.
He discovered the animalcules, infusoria
Anton van (Protozoa), bacteria, etc., and made
1676
Leeuwenhoek microscopical observations on protozoa, ants,
aphids, spermatozoa, red blood cells etc.
Jan Evangelista He coined the term protoplasm for the fluid
1839
Purkinje substance of a cell which was first observed
 by a French Zoologist named Felix Dujardin
in 1835 where he called it sarcode.
He referred protoplasm as the physical basis
1869 Thomas Huxley
of life.
They proposed cell theory. The cell theory
holds that the animals and plants have same
Matthias Jacob pattern of organization and construction. §
1838 - 1839 Schleiden and The bodies of both animals and plants are
Theodor Schwann composed of cells and that each cell can act
independently. In words of Schwann and
Schleiden cell is “functional biological unit”
He claimed that where a cell exists there
must have been a pre - existing cell, just as
1855 Rudolf Virchow
the animal arises only from an animal and the
plants only from a plant.
20th century brought many modern micro
techniques. New histochemical and
cytochemical methods have been developed
to detect various molecular components of
20th century
the cell. Different biochemical events of the
cell could be known by autoradiography.
Methods of tissue culturing have made
possible the study of living cells.
He played an important role in the discovery
of genes and heredity. § He is known as the
1863 Gregor Mendel father of genetics with his famous
experiment about peapods that explained the
patterns of inheritance.
He made first isolation of DNA. He
discovered a microscopic substance in the
1869 Friedrich Miescher pus of discarded surgical bandages, as it
resided in the nuclei of the cell, he called it
nuclein (known as DNA today).
He isolated the non-protein component of
1878 Albert Kossel nuclein, nucleic acid, and later isolated its
five primary nucleobases.
The identification of base, sugar and
phosphate nucleotide unit was made possible.
1919 Phoebus Levene He suggested that DNA consisted of a string
of nucleotide units linked together through
the phosphate groups.
He was trying to find a vaccine against
1928 Frederick Griffith
Streptococcus pnuemoniae, but instead made
 a breakthrough in the world of heredity. He
did four experiments in which he injected
strands of bacteria into mice and postulated
that bacteria are capable of transferring
genetic information through a process known
as transformation.
The first X-ray diffraction patterns that
1937 William Astbury showed that DNA had a regular structure was
produced.
George Beadle and They established the existence of a precise
1940
Edward Tatum relationship between genes and proteins.
Oswald Avery, Colin In their experiment demonstrated that
1944 MacLeod, and Maclyn isolated DNA was the material of which
McCarty genes and chromosomes are made.
He discovered two rules that helped lead to
the discovery of the double helix structure of
1950 Erwin Chargaff
DNA, strongly hinting towards the pair
makeup.
They were the first to obtain very good x-ray
Maurice Wilkins and diffraction images of the DNA fibers. At that
Rosalind Franklin time, little was known about the structure of
DNA.
They began to examine the DNA’s structure.
Using previous X-ray diffraction photos of
James Watson and
1953 DNA fibers, they discovered that it showed
Francis Crick
an X shape which is also a characteristic of a
helix.
They introduced the “Sanger Method” for
sequencing DNA molecules. This was a
Frederick Sanger and
1977 major breakthrough and allowed long
his colleagues
stretches of DNA to be rapidly and
accurately sequenced.
They genetically modify microorganisms to
The scientist at
1977 - 1979 produce human hormone somatostatin,
Genentech
human insulin, and human growth hormone.
He published the first paper describing
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in which a
1983 Kary Mullis
small amount of DNA can be copied in large
quantities over a short period of time.
They approved gene therapy experiment in
the United States begun. The Human
1990 First FDA
Genome Project begins identifying and
mapping all the genes of the human genome.
 The first cloned mammal was Dolly the
1996 Sheep and the specimen was taken from the
cells of an adult animal.

Scientists with the Human Genome Project,

the world’s largest collaborative biological
2003 project announced that the sequencing of the
human genome has completed with an
accuracy of 99.99%

Scientists specializing cell and molecular

2002 up the
biology focus of the advancement on gene
present
synthesis.