Molecular biology /məˈlɛkjʊlər/ is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the

molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis,
modification, mechanisms, and interactions.[1][2][3]
Though cells and other microscopic structures had been observed in living organisms as
early as the 18th century, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms and interactions
governing their behavior did not emerge until the 20th century, when technologies used in
physics and chemistry had advanced sufficiently to permit their application in the
biological sciences. The term 'molecular biology' was first used in 1945 by the English
physicist William Astbury, who described it as an approach focused on discerning the
underpinnings of biological phenomena—i.e. uncovering the physical and chemical
structures and properties of biological molecules, as well as their interactions with other
molecules and how these interactions explain observations of so-called classical biology,
which instead studies biological processes at larger scales and higher levels of organization.
[4]
In 1953 Francis Crick, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and their colleagues at the
Medical Research Council Unit, Cavendish Laboratory, were the first to describe the
double helix model for the chemical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which is
often considered a landmark event for the nascent field because it provided a physico-
chemical basis by which to understand the previously nebulous idea of nucleic acids as the
primary substance of biological inheritance. They proposed this structure based on
previous research done by Franklin, which was conveyed to them by Maurice Wilkins and
Max Perutz.[5] Their work led to the discovery of DNA in other microorganisms, plants,
and animals.[6]
The field of molecular biology includes techniques which enable scientists to learn about
molecular processes.[7] These techniques are used to efficiently target new drugs, diagnose
disease, and better understand cell physiology.[8] Some clinical research and medical
therapies arising from molecular biology are covered under gene therapy, whereas the use
of molecular biology or molecular cell biology in medicine is now referred to as molecular
medicine.
History of molecular biology
Main article: History of molecular biology
 Angle description in

DNA structure
Diagrammatic representation of Watson and Crick's DNA structure
Molecular biology sits at the intersection of biochemistry and genetics; as these scientific
disciplines emerged and evolved in the 20th century, it became clear that they both sought
to determine the molecular mechanisms which underlie vital cellular functions. [9] Advances
in molecular biology have been closely related to the development of new technologies and
their optimization.[10] Molecular biology has been elucidated by the work of many scientists,
and thus the history of the field depends on an understanding of these scientists and their
experiments.[citation needed]
The field of genetics arose from attempts to understand the set of rules underlying
reproduction and heredity, and the nature of the hypothetical units of heredity known as
genes. Gregor Mendel pioneered this work in 1866, when he first described the laws of
inheritance he observed in his studies of mating crosses in pea plants.[11] One such law of
genetic inheritance is the law of segregation, which states that diploid individuals with two
alleles for a particular gene will pass one of these alleles to their offspring.[12] Because of his
critical work, the study of genetic inheritance is commonly referred to as Mendelian
genetics.[13]
A major milestone in molecular biology was the discovery of the structure of DNA. This
work began in 1869 by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist who first proposed a
structure called nuclein, which we now know to be (deoxyribonucleic acid), or DNA.[14] He
discovered this unique substance by studying the components of pus-filled bandages, and
noting the unique properties of the "phosphorus-containing substances".[15] Another
notable contributor to the DNA model was Phoebus Levene, who proposed the
"polynucleotide model" of DNA in 1919 as a result of his biochemical experiments on yeast.
[16]
In 1950, Erwin Chargaff expanded on the work of Levene and elucidated a few critical
properties of nucleic acids: first, the sequence of nucleic acids varies across species. [17]
Second, the total concentration of purines (adenine and guanine) is always equal to the
total concentration of pyrimidines (cysteine and thymine).[14] This is now known as
Chargaff's rule. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published the double helical
structure of DNA,[18] based on the X-ray crystallography work done by Rosalind Franklin
which was conveyed to them by Maurice Wilkins and Max Perutz.[5] Watson and Crick
described the structure of DNA and conjectured about the implications of this unique
structure for possible mechanisms of DNA replication.[18] Watson and Crick were awarded
the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962, along with Wilkins, for proposing a
model of the structure of DNA.[6]
In 1961, it was demonstrated that when a gene encodes a protein, three sequential bases of
a gene's DNA specify each successive amino acid of the protein.[19] Thus the genetic code is a
triplet code, where each triplet (called a codon) specifies a particular amino acid.
Furthermore, it was shown that the codons do not overlap with each other in the DNA
sequence encoding a protein, and that each sequence is read from a fixed starting point.
During 1962–1964, through the use of conditional lethal mutants of a bacterial virus,[20]
fundamental advances were made in our understanding of the functions and interactions of
the proteins employed in the machinery of DNA replication, DNA repair, DNA
recombination, and in the assembly of molecular structures.[21]