1.

2 BACKGROUND OF THE COURSE

Molecular biology. The branch of biology that deals with the nature of biological phenomena at
the molecular level through the study of DNA and RNA, proteins, and other macromolecules
involved in genetic information and cell function, characteristically making use of advanced tools
and techniques of separation, manipulation, imaging, and analysis.

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level.

The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and
biochemistry.

Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the
various systems of a cell, including the interrelationship of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and
learning how these interactions are regulated.

Researchers in molecular biology use specific techniques native to molecular biology, but
increasingly combine these with techniques and ideas from genetics and biochemistry.

Molecular biology is the study of molecular process of replication, transcription and translation
of the genetic material.

The central dogma of molecular biology where genetic material is transcribed into RNA and
then translated into protein, despite being an oversimplified picture of molecular biology, still
provides a good starting point for understanding the field.

Much of the work in molecular biology is quantitative, and recently much work has been done at
the interface of molecular biology and computer science in bioinformatics and computational
biology.

As of the early 2000s, the study of gene structure and function, molecular genetics, has been
amongst the most prominent sub-field of molecular biology.

1.3 DYNAMICS OF CELL

Cells and Organisms

 Life

The basic ingredients needed to sustain life include the following:

a. Genetic information – biological information is carried by the nucleic acid molecules,

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).

The units of genetic information are known as genes, and each consists physically of a
segment of a nucleic acid molecule. The total genetic information possessed by an
organism is known as genome.

b. Mechanism for energy generation – metabolism is the set of processes in which energy
is acquired, liberated, and used for biosynthesis of cell components, then catabolized and
recycled.

c. Living organisms use raw material from the environment to grow and reproduce.

Catabolism is the breakdown of complex molecules in living organisms to form simpler ones,
together with the release of energy

Anabolism is the synthesis of complex molecules in living organisms from simpler ones
together with the storage of energy; constructive metabolism.

d. Machinery for making more living matter – synthesis of new cell components requires
chemical machinery. In particular, ribosomes are needed for making protein, the
macromolecules that make up the bulk of all living tissue.

e. A characteristic outward physical form – living creatures all have material body that is
characteristic for each life-form. This structure contains all the metabolic and biosynthetic
machinery for generating energy and making new living matter.

f. Identity or self – all living organisms have what one might call an identity. The term self
replication implies that an organism known to make a copy of itself not merely to assemble
random organic material.

This concept of “self” versus “non self” is very evident in the immune systems that protect higher
animals against disease,

g. Ability to reproduce - the organisms uses energy and raw materials to make itself, and the
uses the same materials to produce offspring. Some organisms simply reproduce with asexual
reproduction (making offspring without creating gametes) and other organisms use sexual
reproduction (two gametes fuse to form new organism.
A gamete is the male or female reproductive cell that contains half the genetic material of the
organism.

When two human gametes meet — that is, a sperm cell and an ovum — you get a zygote, a
fertilized egg.

h. Adaptation - the most important characteristic of a living creature is the ability to adapt t its
current environment.

This concept also encompasses evolution or the adaptation that get passed from generation to
generation.

Matter is divided into atoms. Genetic information is divided into genes. Living organisms are
divided into cells

Living Creatures are Made of Cells

The most fascinating thing about life is not its superficial diversity but its fundamental unity. All
of these creatures, together with microscopic organisms to small to see with the naked eye, are
made up of cells , structural units or compartments that have more or less same components.

Cell are microscopic structures that vary considerably in shape . Many are spherical, cylindrical,
but many other shapes are forms, such as long branched filaments or nerve cells,

Each cell is enclosed by a cell membrane composed of proteins and phospholipids and contains
a complete copy of the genome.
Essential Properties of a Living Cell

A cell must have a surrounding membrane that separates the cell interior, the cytoplasm from
the outside world.

The cell membrane, or cytoplasmic membrane is made of double layer of phospholipids

together with proteins. The cytoplasmic membrane is physically weak and flexible.

Many cells therefore have a tough structural layer, the cell wall, outside the cell membrane.

Based on differences in compartmentalization. Living cells maybe divided into two types, the
simpler prokaryotic cell and the more complex, eukaryotic cell. By definition, prokaryotes
are those organism whole cells are not subdivided by membrane into a separate nucleus and
cytoplasm. All prokaryotic cell components are located together in the same compartment.

In contrast, the larger and more complicated cells of higher organisms (Animals, fungi, plants.
and protists) are subdivided into separate compartments and are called eukaryotic cells.

Prokaryotic cells lack Nucleus

Bacteria are the smallest living cell and are classified as prokaryotes. Bacteria cells are always
surrounded by a membrane and a cell wall. Typically, each bacterial cell has a single
chromosome carrying a full set of genes providing it with the genetic information to operate as a
living organism.

Eubacteria and Archaea are Genetically Distinct

There are two distinct types of prokaryotes, the eubacteria and the archaebacteria, or archaea.

Both eubacteria and archaea show the typical prokaryotic structure-in other words, they both
lack the nucleus and other internal membranes.

The eubacteria include the most well known bacteria, including all those that cause disease.
When first discovered, the archaea was regarded as strange and primitive. This was largely
because most are found I extreme environments and possessed unusual metabolic pathways.
Some grow at very high temperatures; others in very acidic conditions; others in very high salt.

How Organisms are Classified

Living organisms are referred to by two names. The first name refers to genus, a group of
closely related species. After the genus, the scientific name consists the species, or individual
name.

Example Escherichia coli, or E. coli. The genus name is often abbreviated.

Classification of living organisms facilitates the understanding of their origins and the
relationship of their structure and function.

In order to classify organisms, they are first assigned to one of the three domains of life, which
are eubacteria, archaea and eukaryotes.

Next, the domains are divided into kingdoms.

Within the domain Eukarya, there are four kingdoms.

There are four kingdoms domain Eukarya:

1. Protista – an artificial accumulation of primitive, mostly single-celled eukaryotes and are a

diverse collection of organisms. They are primarily microscopic and unicellular, or made up of a
single cell, examples are algae, amoebas..

2. Plants – posses both mitochondria and chloroplasts and are photosynthetic. Typically, they
are non-mobile and have rigid cell walls made of cellulose.

3. Fungi – any of a diverse group of eukaryotic single-celled or multinucleate organisms that

live by decomposing and absorbing the organic material in which they grow, comprising the
mushrooms, molds, mildews, smuts, rusts, and yeasts, and classified in the kingdom Fungi

4. Animals - a living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense
organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli.

Terms to remember

1. Bacteria – primitive, relatively simple, single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus

2. Cell – is the basic unit of life. Each cell is surrounded by a membrane and usually has a full
set of genes that provide it with the genetic information necessary to operate
3. Differentiation – progressive changes in the structure and gene expression of cells
belonging to a single organism that leads to the formation of different types of cells

4. Phospholipids – a hydrophobic molecule found making up cell membranes and consisting

of a soluble head group and two fatty acids both linked to glycerol phosphates.

5. Protein – made from amino acids that does most of the work in the cell

6. Cytoplasm – the portion of a cell that is inside the cell membrane but outside the nucleus .

7. Membrane – a thin flexible structural layer made of protein and phospholipids that is found
surrounding all living cells .