Landmark Experiments in Molecular Biology critically considers breakthrough experiments that have constituted major turning points in the birth and evolution of molecular biology. These experiments laid the foundations to molecular biology by uncovering the major players in the machinery of inheritance and biological information handling such as DNA, RNA, ribosomes, and proteins. Landmark Experiments in Molecular Biology combines an historical survey of the development of ideas, theories, and profiles of leading scientists with detailed scientific and technical analysis.
1. Chapter 1. Introduction: Origins, Brief History, and Present Status of Molecular Biology - p. 1 2. Chapter 2. Prehistory of Molecular Biology: 1848–1944: The Discoveries of Chromosomes and of Nucleic Acids and Their Chemistry - p. 13 3. Chapter 3. Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty Identified DNA as the Genetic Material: A Celebrated Case of a Clinical Observation That Led to a Fundamental Basic Discovery - p. 42 4. Chapter 4. Hershey and Chase Clinched the Role of DNA as the Genetic Material: Phage Studies Propelled the Birth of Molecular Biology - p. 111 5. Chapter 5. Discovery of the Structure of DNA: The Most Famous Discovery of 20th Century Biology - p. 143 6. Abstract - p. 143 7. 5.1 Early History of X-Ray Crystallography - p. 147 8. 5.2 The Emergence of X-Ray Crystallography of Biological Molecules - p. 158 9. 5.3 Early Studies of Diffraction of X-Rays by DNA Fibers - p. 174 10. 5.4 Erwin Chargaff’s Discovery of Base Complementarity in DNA - p. 182 11. 5.5 Studies at King’s College on the Diffraction of X-Rays in DNA Fibers - p. 189 12. 5.6 First Models of DNA Were Built by Watson and Crick and by Linus Pauling - p. 203 13. 5.7 Reception of the Double Helix Model of DNA - p. 233 14. 5.8 After the Discovery - p. 237 15. References - p. 240 16. Chapter 6. Meselson and Stahl Proved That DNA Is Replicated in a Semiconservative Fashion: An Elegant Experiment Decided Among Three Competing Theoretical Models of the Mechanics of DNA Replication - p. 249 17. Chapter 7. Defining the Genetic Code: Evolving Ideas on the Nature of the Genetic Code and the Unraveling of Its General Attributes - p. 271 18. Chapter 8. The Adaptor Hypothesis and the Discovery of Transfer RNA: Crick’s Prescient Hypothesis of an Adaptor Molecule and the Independent Identification by Zamecnik and Hoagland of Transfer RNA and Activating Enzymes - p. 313 19. Chapter 9. The Discovery and Rediscovery of Prokaryotic Messenger RNA: Initial Detection of Messenger RNA Was Overlooked Until It Was Discovered Again - p. 357 20. Chapter 10. The Deciphering of the Genetic Code: Nirenberg and Khorana Decrypt the Genetic Code - p. 421 21. Chapter 11. The Surprising Discovery of Split Genes and of RNA Splicing: The Discovery of Split Genes and of RNA Splicing in Eukaryotes Defeated the Preconception of the Universality of Gene–mRNA Collinearity - p. 481 22. Chapter 12. Postscript: On the Place of Theory and Experiment in Molecular Biology - p. 523 23. Index - p. 533
Landmark Experiments in Molecular Biology critically considers breakthrough experiments that have constituted major turning points in the birth and evolution of molecular biology. These experiments laid the foundations to molecular biology by uncovering the major players in the machinery of inheritance and biological information handling such as DNA, RNA, ribosomes, and proteins. Landmark Experiments in Molecular Biology combines an historical survey of the development of ideas, theories, and profiles of leading scientists with detailed scientific and technical analysis.
1. Chapter 1. Introduction: Origins, Brief History, and Present Status of Molecular Biology - p. 1 2. Chapter 2. Prehistory of Molecular Biology: 1848–1944: The Discoveries of Chromosomes and of Nucleic Acids and Their Chemistry - p. 13 3. Chapter 3. Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty Identified DNA as the Genetic Material: A Celebrated Case of a Clinical Observation That Led to a Fundamental Basic Discovery - p. 42 4. Chapter 4. Hershey and Chase Clinched the Role of DNA as the Genetic Material: Phage Studies Propelled the Birth of Molecular Biology - p. 111 5. Chapter 5. Discovery of the Structure of DNA: The Most Famous Discovery of 20th Century Biology - p. 143 6. Abstract - p. 143 7. 5.1 Early History of X-Ray Crystallography - p. 147 8. 5.2 The Emergence of X-Ray Crystallography of Biological Molecules - p. 158 9. 5.3 Early Studies of Diffraction of X-Rays by DNA Fibers - p. 174 10. 5.4 Erwin Chargaff’s Discovery of Base Complementarity in DNA - p. 182 11. 5.5 Studies at King’s College on the Diffraction of X-Rays in DNA Fibers - p. 189 12. 5.6 First Models of DNA Were Built by Watson and Crick and by Linus Pauling - p. 203 13. 5.7 Reception of the Double Helix Model of DNA - p. 233 14. 5.8 After the Discovery - p. 237 15. References - p. 240 16. Chapter 6. Meselson and Stahl Proved That DNA Is Replicated in a Semiconservative Fashion: An Elegant Experiment Decided Among Three Competing Theoretical Models of the Mechanics of DNA Replication - p. 249 17. Chapter 7. Defining the Genetic Code: Evolving Ideas on the Nature of the Genetic Code and the Unraveling of Its General Attributes - p. 271 18. Chapter 8. The Adaptor Hypothesis and the Discovery of Transfer RNA: Crick’s Prescient Hypothesis of an Adaptor Molecule and the Independent Identification by Zamecnik and Hoagland of Transfer RNA and Activating Enzymes - p. 313 19. Chapter 9. The Discovery and Rediscovery of Prokaryotic Messenger RNA: Initial Detection of Messenger RNA Was Overlooked Until It Was Discovered Again - p. 357 20. Chapter 10. The Deciphering of the Genetic Code: Nirenberg and Khorana Decrypt the Genetic Code - p. 421 21. Chapter 11. The Surprising Discovery of Split Genes and of RNA Splicing: The Discovery of Split Genes and of RNA Splicing in Eukaryotes Defeated the Preconception of the Universality of Gene–mRNA Collinearity - p. 481 22. Chapter 12. Postscript: On the Place of Theory and Experiment in Molecular Biology - p. 523 23. Index - p. 533
