Molecular Biology is a branch of Biology that studies the cell at a molecular level. It has the main objective of studying the biochemical interactions between the different systems of the cell. It also studies in which way these interactions are regulated, focusing on the relationship between structure and function of genetic material (DNA and RNA) and their expression (protein synthesis). Due to its wide focus of study, this branch of Biology overlaps to other areas of study, such as, Biochemistry and Genetics.
Molecular Biology’s History
Molecular Biology emerged in 1953 when scientists Watson and Crick found and described the structure of DNA molecule. However, history shows that Molecular Biology has it prime from Microbiology, since that mostly of the key words and specific techniques were grounded by studies and assays performed on bacteria, fungi and virus.
Molecular Biology Techniques
The study of Molecular Biology resorts to several techniques that are specific to each type of genetic material. These techniques aim the obtainment, identification and characterization of genes and their expression products (RNA and proteins), taking the name of Molecular Biology Techniques. The most commonly used techniques are:
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which aims the identification of specific DNA fragments;
- Gel electrophoresis which is used to separate the DNA, RNA and proteins according to their molecular weight through a matrix to which is applied a electrical field;
- Southern blot through which verifies whether a given DNA sequence is present or not in a biological sample, what is its molecular weight and relative quantity;
- Northern blot which is used to study the mRNA expression profile in a biological sample;
- Western blot through which it is analysed the quantity of a given protein in a biological sample.
