MLS TERM

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
02
32
04
LECTURE

[TRANS] MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND DIAGNOSTICS

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
- the study of composition. Structure, and
interactions of biomolecules:
 nucleic acids
 proteins
- the study of the structure and function of
molecules and macromolecular systems
associated with biological processes,
especially the molecular basis of
inheritance and protein synthesis

MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS
- the process of detection and/or
measurement of nucleic acids of proteins and
their association with a specific health
condition or disease
- involves taking DNA or RNA, the unique LEADS TO DNA: GRIFFITH’S EXPERIMENT
genetic code found in our cells, and analyzing - In 1928, Frederick Griffith was trying to figure
the sequences for red flags that can pinpoint out why people got sick.
the potential emergence of a specific disease - Some factor transformed the harmless
bacteria into harmful ones.
GENOME - Genetic information could be transferred from
- entire genetic material in an organism, one bacteria to another called
encoded as DNA or, for many types of viruses,
in RNA
- includes both the genes and the noncoding
sequence

GENE
- considered the basic unit of inheritance
- passed from parents to offspring and contain
the information needed to specify physical and
biological traits
- a DNA segment containing biological
information
- codes for a protein/protein segment that leads transformation.
to a specific trait Oswald Avery, Maclyn McCarty & Colin
- occupies a fixed position in the genome
MacLeod
NUCLEOTIDES
- the building blocks of the DNA and RNA
- consists of a sugar molecule (either
ribose in RNA or deoxyribose in DNA)
attached to a phosphate group and a
nitrogen-containing base

FREDERICK GRIFFITH
- Born in 1879
- Died 1941 in London, England
- Nationality: British
- A physician, pathologist & bacteriologist
- Known for the discovery of
pneumococcal transformation

THE GRIFFITH’S EXPERIMENT

DEMONSTRATING BACTERIAL
TRANSFORMATION:
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 - First experimental evidence that DNA was the  X-ray diffraction: Scattered pattern of
genetic material. DNA X-rays on film produced by
ALFRED HERSHEY & MARTHA CASE Rosalind Franklin (showed coiled
- Radioactively labeled protein and nucleic acids strand and angle of strands)
in bacteriophages  Chargaff’s Rule
- Radioactive DNA was found in the bacterial
cell while radioactive protein was not DNA Source A T G C
- Concluded: DNA IS THE HEREDITARY Streptococcus 29.8 31.6 20.5 18.0
MATERIAL Yeast 31.3 32.9 18.7 17.1
Herring 27.8 27.5 22.2 22.6
**QUESTION: How is transformation connected Human 30.9 29.4 19.9 19.8
to bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria)?
Is it the protein coat or the DNA/RNA that carries ERWIN CHARGAFF
genetic material? - In 1947, an American scientist discovered that
- the amount of guanine and cytosine bases are
equal in any sample of DNA.
- The same is true for the other nitrogen bases:
The amount of adenine and thymine are equal
in any sample of DNA.
- The observation that A=T and that C=G
became known as Chargaff’s Rule.
- At the time, this observation was made, it was
not clear why this fact was so important.

GENETICS – HISTORY AND KEY CONCEPTS

LEADS TO DNA: ROSALIND FRANKLIN
- Using DNA diffraction, Rosalind Franklin used
high energy X-rays beamed at DNA samples
and found the shape of DNA.
- Showed that the strands of DNA are twisted
around each other in a helix.
- The X suggests there are two strands in the
structure.
- She died at age 37 of Ovarian Cancer, and
during her research (after her father forbid her
to be a scientist) was forbidden from male
pubs and continued research while her male
counterparts went to male-only pubs).
ROSALIND FRANKLIN’S AND MAURICE
WILKINS’ INVESTIGATION OF DNA
STRUCTURE BY X-RAY DIFFRACTION
ROSALIND FRANKLIN (1950’s)
- Worked with Maurice Wilkins
- X-ray crystallography: images of DNA
- Provided measurements on chemistry if DNA
JAMES WATSON & FRANCIS CRICK (1953)
- Discovered the double helix by building
models to conform to Franklin’s X-ray data and
Chargaff’s Rules.
WATSON AND CRICK MODEL
- What did they know?
 DNA was a molecule involved in
genetic information
- What did they not know?
 The structure of the molecule
- What evidence did they use?
1860s
- Mendel’s work on peas allows the conclusion
that traits are inherited through discrete units
passed from one generation to the next.
1870s
- Friedrich Miescher describes nucleic acids
1909
- The word ‘gene’ coined by Danish botanist
Wilhelm Johannsen
1910
- Thomas Morgan’s work on fruit flies
demonstrates that genes lie on chromosomes
1940s
- Barbara McClintock describes mobile genetic
elements in maize
1944
- Oswald Avery shoes in bacteria that nucleic
acids are the “transforming recipe”.
1953
- James Watson and Francis Crick publish the
double helix model for DNA’s chemical
structure.
1958
- Crick proposes the ‘central dogma’ for
biological information flow: that DNA makes
RNA makes protein.
1977
- Phillip Sharp and Richard Roberts find that
protein-coding genes are carried in segments.

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2001
- Initial results from the Human Genome Project
published.

NUCLEIC ACIDS
- RNA (RIBONUCLEIC ACID)
 Single helix
- DNA (DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID)
 Double helix
- Structure:
 Monomers = Nucleotides
- Long chains (polymers) of repeating
nucleotides.
- Each nucleotide has 3 parts:
 Phosphate Unit
 Heterocyclic Amine Base
 Sugar

RIBOSE

COMPLIMENTARY BASE PAIRING

DNA VS RNA

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