Before considering the methods of molecular biology, it is necessary, at least in the most general terms, to understand and realize what molecular biology itself is and what it is studying. And for this you will have to dig even deeper and deal with the harmonious concept of "genetic information". And also remember what a cell, nucleus, proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid are.
What is what, or basic knowledge
All people who took the basic biology course at school should know that the body of every person and animal is made up of organs, muscles and bones. And those are formed from various tissues, which in turn are formed from cells.
The envelope, cytoplasm, various proteins and the nucleus are the main components of the ordinary cell. But information about how proteins are built and function is in the nucleus, or more precisely, in deoxyribonucleic acid. It is in the world famous DNA chain that data are stored and stored on how proteins should work. From the correct construction of deoxyribonucleic acid, all further development of the body depends. From the point of view of biologists, nothing is more important. It can be said that a person’s whole life depends on a billion tiny accidents that could change his genome.
Molecular biology also studies the processes that occur in cells: how data is transferred from deoxyribonucleic acid to proteins, how they initially get there, what are the main functions of proteins, how they are formed.
Since the twenties of the twentieth century, molecular biology has been actively developed. Leading scientists of the world devoted their lives to the study of deoxyribonucleic acid and the work of proteins. Many crazy discoveries have been made. For example, the scientist Francis Crick formulated the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology on the eve of the sixties. The essence of this law is that from deoxyribonucleic acid, genetic data is transferred to ribonucleic acid, and from there to protein. But the process cannot go in the opposite direction.
Only closer to the beginning of the twenty-first century the formation of the basic methods of molecular biology began. Thanks to this, a real breakthrough took place in science: scientists found out how and from what deoxyribonucleic acid is formed. Biology and chemistry were never the same again.
Molecular Biology Methods
There are basic methods for modifying deoxyribonucleic and ribonucleic acids, as well as manipulating proteins. The whole point of the principles and methods of biochemistry and molecular biology is to find out something new about DNA and proteins.
First method. Cut
For the first time, scientists fully realized that they can change the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid back in the fifties of the twentieth century, when they discovered a very special enzyme. Nobel laureates Smith, Nathans and Arber, who in 1978 isolated and used this protein, dubbed it a restrictase enzyme. Such a rather tough name was chosen for the reason that this enzyme possessed incredible ability: it could literally cut deoxyribonucleic acid.
Second method. Connect
Quite often, molecular biology methods are not used alone, but in pairs with each other. An example here is the first two methods from this list. The goal of biologists is not so much to isolate a molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid as to create a new molecule. This mission can not do without another enzyme: DNA ligase. It is capable of connecting deoxyribonucleic acid chains to each other. Moreover, the chains can belong to cells of completely different types, and this will not affect anything.
The third method. Split up
It often happens that deoxyribonucleic acid molecules have different lengths. So that this does not interfere with the work of scientists, they are divided using the phenomenon of electrophoresis. The molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid is lowered into a certain substance, and it is immersed in an electric field, under the influence of which separation occurs.
The fourth method. Recognize the essence
Methods of biochemistry and molecular biology are different. Often their goal is not to change genes, but to study them. In order to reveal the essence of DNA, nucleic acid hybridization is used. The experiment itself goes like this: first deoxyribonucleic acid is heated. Because of this, the circuits are disconnected. The process must be repeated twice with two different deoxyribonucleic acids. Then they are connected to each other, and finally the mixture is cooled. Depending on how quickly or slowly hybridization occurs, scientists figure out how the deoxyribonucleic acid chain itself is formulated.
Fifth method. Clone
Molecular biology research methods are always interconnected, but especially in this case, because in fact cloning is a combination of all the previous methods of working with genes. First, it is necessary to divide the deoxyribonucleic acid into parts. Next, bacteria are grown in a test tube, and the resulting chains multiply in them.
Sixth method. Identify
Back in the fifties of the twentieth century, a biologist from Sweden, Peer Victor Edman, invented a method. With its help, one could easily recognize the sequence of amino acids in a protein.
Seventh method. Modify
The principles and methods of molecular biology are mainly based on work with cells. The fact is that with the help of the so-called gene gun, a scientist can introduce deoxyribonucleic acid into the cells of plants, animals and humans. Thus, cells change, acquire new qualities and functions. The nucleus and other organoids are radically modified through this experiment.
The eighth method. Explore
Genes that are called reporter genes can be attached to the rest of the genes and, with this fairly simple action, examine what happens inside the cells. This method is also used to find out how brightly the genes appear in the cell. Usually, the LacZ gene plays the role of a reporter.
The ninth method. Detect
In order to isolate a specific gene among others, scientists inject horseradish peroxidase into the cell. There, it connects to the molecule and transmits a sufficiently strong signal that allows the scientist to determine the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the cell.
Conclusion
Nowadays, science is extremely actively moving forward. Especially in the field of biology. New functions and types of cells, completely new methods of molecular biology are being discovered. It is possible that the future will depend on these discoveries. And these discoveries, in turn, depend on modern methods of molecular biology.