Applied value of molecular biology. Molecular biologist profession

31.2

For friends!

reference

Molecular biology grew out of biochemistry in April 1953. Its appearance is associated with the names of James Watson and Francis Crick, who discovered the structure of the DNA molecule. The discovery was made possible by research on genetics, bacteria and the biochemistry of viruses. The profession of a molecular biologist is not widespread, but today its role in modern society is very great. A large number of diseases, including those manifested at the genetic level, require scientists to search for solutions to this problem.

Description of activities

Viruses and bacteria constantly mutate, which means that medications stop helping a person and diseases become intractable. A task molecular biology - to get ahead of this process and develop a new remedy for diseases. Scientists work according to a well-established scheme: blocking the cause of the disease, eliminating the mechanisms of heredity and thereby alleviating the patient's condition. There are a number of centers, clinics and hospitals around the world where molecular biologists are developing new treatments to help patients.

Labor responsibilities

The responsibilities of a molecular biologist include studying processes within the cell (for example, changes in DNA during the development of tumors). Also, experts study the features of DNA, their effect on the whole organism and an individual cell. Such studies are carried out, for example, on the basis of PCR (polymerase chain reaction), which allows you to analyze the body for infections, hereditary diseases and determine biological relationship.

Features of career growth

The profession of a molecular biologist is quite promising in its field and today claims to be the first in the ranking of the medical professions of the future. By the way, a molecular biologist doesn't have to stay in this area all the time. If there is a desire to change his occupation, he can retrain as sales managers for laboratory equipment, start developing devices for various research, or open his own business.

(Molekularbiologe / -biologin)

A type
Profession after graduation
The salary
3667-5623 € per month

Molecular biologists study molecular processes as the basis of all life processes. Based on the results obtained, they develop concepts for the use of biochemical processes, for example, in medical research and diagnostics or in biotechnology. In addition, they may be involved in the production of pharmaceutical products, product development, quality assurance, or pharmaceutical consulting.

Duties of a Molecular Biologist

Molecular biologists can work in different fields. For example, they relate to the use of research results for production in areas such as genetic engineering, protein chemistry or pharmacology (drug discovery). In the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, they facilitate the introduction of newly developed products from research into production, product marketing and user consulting.

In scientific research, molecular biologists study the chemical and physical properties of organic compounds, as well as chemical processes (in the field of cellular metabolism) in living organisms and publish the results of the research. In higher educational institutions they teach students, prepare for lectures and seminars, review written work, and take exams. Self scientific activity is possible only after receiving a master's degree and a doctor of science.

Where Molecular Biologists Work

Molecular biologists find jobs such as

in research institutions, for example, in the fields of science and medicine
in higher education
in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry
in the departments of environmental protection

Molecular Biologist Salary

The salary received by Molecular Biologists in Germany is

from 3667 € to 5623 € per month

(according to data from various statistical offices and employment services in Germany)

Tasks and responsibilities of a Molecular Biologist in detail

What is the essence of the profession of Molecular Biologist

Molecular biologists study molecular processes as the basis of all life processes. Based on the results obtained, they develop concepts for the use of biochemical processes, for example, in medical research and diagnostics or in biotechnology. In addition, they may be involved in the production of pharmaceutical products, product development, quality assurance, or pharmaceutical consulting.

Molecular biology vocation

Molecular biology or molecular genetics is concerned with the study of the structure and biosynthesis of nucleic acids and the processes associated with the transfer and implementation of this information in the form of proteins. This makes it possible to understand the painful dysfunctions of these functions and, possibly, to cure them with gene therapy. There are interfaces for biotechnology and genetic engineering in which simple organisms such as bacteria and yeast are created to make substances of pharmacological or commercial interest commercially available through targeted mutations.

Theory and Practice of Molecular Biology

The pharmaceutical and chemical industry offers numerous areas of employment for molecular biologists. In an industrial setting, they analyze biotransformation processes or develop and improve processes for the microbiological production of active ingredients and pharmaceutical intermediates. In addition, they are involved in the transition of newly developed products from research to production. Through their verification tasks, they ensure that manufacturing facilities, equipment, analytical methods and all steps in the production of sensitive products such as pharmaceuticals always meet the required quality standards. In addition, molecular biologists advise users on the use of new products.

For leadership positions, a master's program is often required.

Molecular Biologists in Research and Education

In science and research, molecular biologists deal with topics such as the recognition, transport, folding, and codification of proteins in the cell. Research results that are the basis for practical application in various fields, publish them and thus make them available to other scientists and students. At conferences and congresses, they discuss and present the results of scientific activities. Molecular biologists conduct lectures and seminars, supervise scientific work and take exams.

Independent scientific activity requires a master's and doctoral degrees.

Molecular biology, a science that sets as its task the knowledge of the nature of the phenomena of vital activity by studying biological objects and systems at a level approaching the molecular level, and in some cases even reaching this limit. The ultimate goal in this case is to find out how and to what extent the characteristic manifestations of life, such as heredity, reproduction of one's own kind, protein biosynthesis, excitability, growth and development, storage and transmission of information, energy conversion, mobility, etc. , are due to the structure, properties and interaction of molecules of biologically important substances, primarily two main classes of high molecular weight biopolymers - proteins and nucleic acids. A distinctive feature of M. b. - study of the phenomena of life on inanimate objects or those that are inherent in the most primitive manifestations of life. These are biological formations from the cellular level and below: subcellular organelles, such as isolated cell nuclei, mitochondria, ribosomes, chromosomes, cell membranes; further - systems standing on the border of living and inanimate nature, - viruses, including bacteriophages, and ending with the molecules of the most important components of living matter - nucleic acids and proteins.

Distinctive feature M. b. is its three-dimensionality. M.'s essence. M. Perutz sees it in interpreting biological functions in terms of molecular structure. M. b. aims to get answers to the question "how", having learned the essence of the role and participation of the entire structure of the molecule, and to the questions "why" and "why", having clarified, on the one hand, the relationship between the properties of the molecule (again, primarily proteins and nucleic acids) and the functions it performs and, on the other hand, the role of such individual functions in the general complex of manifestations of vital activity.

Major advances in molecular biology. Here is a far from complete list of these achievements: disclosure of the structure and mechanism of the biological function of DNA, all types of RNA and ribosomes, disclosure of the genetic code; discovery of reverse transcription, i.e. DNA synthesis on an RNA template; study of the mechanisms of the functioning of respiratory pigments; the discovery of the three-dimensional structure and its functional role in the action of enzymes, the principle of matrix synthesis and the mechanisms of protein biosynthesis; disclosure of the structure of viruses and mechanisms of their replication, primary and, partially, the spatial structure of antibodies; isolation of individual genes, chemical and then biological (enzymatic) synthesis of a gene, including a human one, outside the cell (in vitro); transfer of genes from one organism to another, including into human cells; the rapidly advancing deciphering of the chemical structure of an increasing number of individual proteins, mainly enzymes and also nucleic acids; detection of the phenomena of "self-assembly" of some biological objects of increasing complexity, starting from nucleic acid molecules and moving to multicomponent enzymes, viruses, ribosomes, etc .; elucidation of allosteric and other basic principles of regulation of biological functions and processes.

The problems of molecular biology. Along with the indicated important tasks of M. b. (cognition of the patterns of "recognition", self-assembly and integration) an urgent direction of scientific search for the near future is the development of methods that make it possible to decipher the structure, and then the three-dimensional, spatial organization of high molecular weight nucleic acids. All the most important methods, the use of which ensured the emergence and success of medical science, were proposed and developed by physicists (ultracentrifugation, X-ray structural analysis, electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, etc.). Almost all new physical experimental approaches (for example, the use of computers, synchrotron or bremsstrahlung radiation, laser technology, etc.) open up new possibilities for in-depth study problems M. b. Among the most important tasks of a practical nature, the answer to which is expected from M. b., In the first place is the problem of the molecular basis of malignant growth, then - ways of preventing, and perhaps overcoming, hereditary diseases - "molecular diseases". Elucidation of the molecular basis of biological catalysis, that is, the action of enzymes, will be of great importance. Among the most important modern directions of M. b. should include the desire to decipher the molecular mechanisms of action of hormones, toxic and medicinal substances, as well as to find out the details of the molecular structure and functioning of such cell structures, as biological membranesparticipating in the regulation of the processes of penetration and transport of substances. More distant goals of M. b. - cognition of the nature of nervous processes, memory mechanisms, etc. One of the important emerging sections of M. b. - the so-called. genetic engineering, which sets as its task the purposeful operation of the genetic apparatus (genome) of living organisms, starting with microbes and lower (unicellular) ones and ending with humans (in the latter case, primarily for the purpose of radical treatment of hereditary diseases and correction of genetic defects).

The most important areas of MB:

- Molecular genetics - the study of the structural and functional organization of the genetic apparatus of the cell and the mechanism of realization of hereditary information

- Molecular Virology - the study of the molecular mechanisms of the interaction of viruses with cells

- Molecular immunology - the study of the patterns of the body's immune reactions

- Molecular developmental biology - the study of the appearance of different quality of cells during individual development organisms and cell specialization

The main objects of research: Viruses (including bacteriophages), Cells and subcellular structures, Macromolecules, Multicellular organisms.

Molecular biologist Is a researcher in the field of medicine, whose mission is, no less, to save humanity from dangerous diseases. Among such diseases, for example, oncology, which today has become one of the main causes of death in the world, is only slightly behind the leader - cardiovascular diseases. New methods of early diagnosis of oncology, prevention and treatment of cancer are a priority task of modern medicine. Molecular oncology biologists develop antibodies and recombinant (genetically engineered) proteins for early diagnosis or targeted drug delivery in the body. Experts in this field use the most modern achievements of science and technology to create new organisms and organic matter for the purpose of their further use in research and clinical activities. Among the methods used by molecular biologists are cloning, transfection, infection, polymerase chain reaction, gene sequencing, and others. One of the companies interested in molecular biologists in Russia is PrimeBioMed LLC. The organization is engaged in the production of antibodies reagents for the diagnosis of cancer. Such antibodies are mainly used to determine the type of tumor, its origin and malignancy, that is, the ability to metastasize (spread to other parts of the body). Antibodies are applied to thin sections of the examined tissue, after which they bind in cells with certain proteins - markers that are present in tumor cells, but absent in healthy cells and vice versa. Further treatment is prescribed depending on the results of the study. Among the clients of "PrimeBioMed" there are not only medical, but also scientific institutions, since antibodies can also be used to solve research problems. In such cases, unique antibodies can be produced that can bind to the protein under study, for a specific task on a special order. Another promising area of \u200b\u200bthe company's research is the targeted (targeted) delivery of drugs in the body. In this case, antibodies are used as transport: with their help, drugs are delivered directly to the affected organs. Thus, the treatment becomes more effective and has fewer negative consequences for the body than, for example, chemotherapy, which affects not only cancer cells, but also other cells. The profession of a molecular biologist is expected to become more and more in demand in the coming decades: with an increase in the average life expectancy of a person, the number of oncological diseases will increase. Early diagnosis of tumors and innovative treatments using substances obtained by molecular biologists will save lives and improve its quality for a huge number of people.

Molecular biology

a science that sets as its task the knowledge of the nature of the phenomena of vital activity by studying biological objects and systems at a level approaching the molecular level, and in some cases even reaching this limit. The ultimate goal in this case is to find out how and to what extent the characteristic manifestations of life, such as heredity, reproduction of one's own kind, protein biosynthesis, excitability, growth and development, storage and transmission of information, energy conversion, mobility, etc. , are due to the structure, properties and interaction of molecules of biologically important substances, primarily the two main classes of high molecular weight biopolymers (See Biopolymers) - proteins and nucleic acids. A distinctive feature of M. b. - study of the phenomena of life on inanimate objects or those that are inherent in the most primitive manifestations of life. These are biological formations from the cellular level and below: subcellular organelles, such as isolated cell nuclei, mitochondria, ribosomes, chromosomes, cell membranes; further - systems that stand on the border of living and inanimate nature - viruses, including bacteriophages, and ending with the molecules of the most important components of living matter - nucleic acids and proteins (See Proteins).

M. b. - a new area of \u200b\u200bnatural science, closely related to long-established areas of research, which are covered by biochemistry (see Biochemistry), biophysics (see Biophysics), and bioorganic chemistry (see Bioorganic chemistry). The distinction here is possible only on the basis of taking into account the methods used and the fundamental nature of the approaches used.

The foundation on which M. b. Developed was laid by such sciences as genetics, biochemistry, physiology of elementary processes, and so on. According to the origins of his development, M. b. is inextricably linked with molecular genetics (See Molecular Genetics) , which continues to constitute an important part of M. b., although it has already formed to a large extent into an independent discipline. M.'s isolation. from biochemistry is dictated by the following considerations. The tasks of biochemistry are mainly limited to stating the participation of certain chemical substances with certain biological functions and processes and clarifying the nature of their transformations; the leading role belongs to information about the reactivity and the main features chemical structureexpressed by the usual chemical formula. Thus, in essence, attention is focused on the transformations affecting the principal valence chemical bonds... Meanwhile, as was emphasized by L. Pauling , in biological systems and manifestations of vital activity, the main importance should be assigned not to the main valent bonds acting within one molecule, but to various types of bonds that cause intermolecular interactions (electrostatic, van der Waals, hydrogen bonds, etc.).

The end result of biochemical research can be presented in the form of one or another system chemical equations, usually completely exhausted by their image on a plane, that is, in two dimensions. A distinctive feature of M. b. is its three-dimensionality. M.'s essence. M. Perutz sees it in interpreting biological functions in terms of molecular structure. We can say that if before, in the study of biological objects, it was necessary to answer the question "what", that is, what substances are present, and the question "where" - in what tissues and organs, then M. b. sets its task to get answers to the question "how", having learned the essence of the role and participation of the entire structure of the molecule, and to the questions "why" and "why", having clarified, on the one hand, the connections between the properties of the molecule (again, primarily proteins and nucleic acids) and the functions it performs and, on the other hand, the role of such individual functions in the general complex of manifestations of vital activity.

The decisive role is played by mutual arrangement atoms and their groupings in the general structure of the macromolecule, their spatial relationships. This applies to both individual, individual, components, and the general configuration of the molecule as a whole. It is as a result of the emergence of a strictly determined volumetric structure that biopolymer molecules acquire the properties due to which they are able to serve as the material basis of biological functions. This principle of approach to the study of living things is the most characteristic, typical feature of M. b.

Historical reference. The enormous importance of research on biological problems in molecular level foresaw I.P. Pavlov , who spoke about the last step in the science of life - the physiology of a living molecule. The very term “M. b. " was first used in English. scientists W. Astbury in the application to studies concerning the elucidation of the relationship between the molecular structure and the physical and biological properties of fibrillar (fibrous) proteins, such as collagen, blood fibrin, or muscle contractile proteins. The term “M. b. " steel from the beginning of the 50s. 20th century

M.'s emergence. as an established science, it is customary to refer to 1953, when J. Watson and F. Crick in Cambridge (Great Britain) discovered the three-dimensional structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (see Deoxyribonucleic acid) (DNA). This allowed us to talk about how the details of this structure determine the biological functions of DNA as a material carrier of hereditary information. In principle, this role of DNA became known a little earlier (1944) as a result of the work of the American geneticist OT Avery and his colleagues (see Molecular Genetics), but it was not known to what extent this function depends on the molecular structure of DNA. This became possible only after new principles of X-ray structural analysis were developed in the laboratories of W. L. Bragg (see Bragg-Wolfe condition), J. Bernal and others, which ensured the application of this method for detailed knowledge of the spatial structure of protein macromolecules and nucleic acids.

Levels of molecular organization. In 1957 J. Kendrew established the three-dimensional structure of myoglobin a , and in subsequent years this was done by M. Perutz in relation to Hemoglobin a. The concepts of various levels of the spatial organization of macromolecules were formulated. The primary structure is the sequence of individual units (monomers) in the chain of the resulting polymer molecule. For proteins, the monomers are amino acids , for nucleic acids - Nucleotides. A linear, filamentous biopolymer molecule, as a result of the occurrence of hydrogen bonds, has the ability to fit in space in a certain way, for example, in the case of proteins, as L. Pauling showed, acquire the shape of a spiral. This is referred to as a secondary structure. A tertiary structure is said to be when a molecule with a secondary structure folds further in one way or another, filling three-dimensional space. Finally, molecules with a three-dimensional structure can interact, being regularly located in space relative to each other and forming what is designated as a quaternary structure; its individual components are usually called subunits.

The most obvious example of how a three-dimensional molecular structure determines the biological functions of a molecule is DNA. It has the structure of a double helix: two threads running in a mutually opposite direction (antiparallel) are twisted around one another, forming a double helix with a mutually complementary arrangement of bases, i.e. so that opposite a certain base of one chain there is always such a the base that best provides the formation of hydrogen bonds: adepine (A) forms a pair with thymine (T), guanine (G) - with cytosine (C). This structure creates optimal conditions for the most important biological functions of DNA: the quantitative multiplication of hereditary information in the process of cell division while maintaining the qualitative invariability of this flow of genetic information. When a cell divides, the strands of the double helix of DNA, which serves as a template, or template, are unwound, and a complementary new strand is synthesized on each of them under the action of enzymes. As a result of this, from one parent DNA molecule, two daughter molecules completely identical to it are obtained (see Cell, Mitosis).

Likewise, in the case of hemoglobin, it turned out that its biological function - the ability to reversibly attach oxygen in the lungs and then give it to tissues - is closely related to the peculiarities of the three-dimensional structure of hemoglobin and its changes in the process of carrying out its physiological role. During the binding and dissociation of O 2, spatial changes in the conformation of the hemoglobin molecule occur, leading to a change in the affinity of the iron atoms contained in it for oxygen. Changes in the size of the hemoglobin molecule, reminiscent of changes in the volume of the chest during respiration, made it possible to call hemoglobin "molecular lungs".

One of the most important features of living objects is their ability to finely regulate all manifestations of life. A major contribution of M. b. scientific discoveries should be considered the disclosure of a new, previously unknown regulatory mechanism, designated as an allosteric effect. It lies in the ability of substances of low molecular weight - the so-called. ligands - to modify the specific biological functions of macromolecules, primarily catalytically acting proteins - enzymes, hemoglobin, receptor proteins involved in the construction of biological membranes (see Biological membranes), in synaptic transmission (see Synapses), etc.

Three biotic streams.In the light of M.'s representations. the totality of the phenomena of life can be considered as the result of a combination of three streams: the stream of matter, which finds its expression in the phenomena of metabolism, ie, assimilation and dissimilation; the flow of energy, which is the driving force for all manifestations of life; and the flow of information that permeates not only the whole variety of processes of development and existence of each organism, but also a continuous series of successive generations. It is precisely the idea of \u200b\u200bthe flow of information introduced into the doctrine of the living world by the development of M. b. That leaves its specific, unique imprint on it.

Major advances in molecular biology. The swiftness, scope and depth of influence of M. b. success in understanding the fundamental problems of studying living nature is rightly compared, for example, with the influence of quantum theory on the development of atomic physics. Two internally related conditions defined this revolutionary impact. On the one hand, a decisive role was played by the discovery of the possibility of studying the most important manifestations of vital activity in the simplest conditions, approaching the type of chemical and physical experiments. On the other hand, as a consequence of this circumstance, there was a rapid involvement of a significant number of representatives of the exact sciences - physicists, chemists, crystallographers, and then mathematicians - in the development of biological problems. In their totality, these circumstances determined the unusually fast pace of development of medical science, the number and significance of its successes achieved in just two decades. Here is a far from complete list of these achievements: disclosure of the structure and mechanism of the biological function of DNA, all types of RNA and ribosomes (See Ribosomes) , disclosure of the genetic code (See genetic code) ; opening of reverse transcription (See Transcription) , i.e., DNA synthesis on an RNA template; study of the mechanisms of the functioning of respiratory pigments; the discovery of the three-dimensional structure and its functional role in the action of enzymes (See Enzymes) , the principle of matrix synthesis and mechanisms of protein biosynthesis; disclosure of the structure of viruses (see. Viruses) and mechanisms of their replication, primary and, partially, the spatial structure of antibodies; isolation of individual genes , chemical and then biological (enzymatic) synthesis of a gene, including a human one, outside the cell (in vitro); transfer of genes from one organism to another, including human cells; the rapidly advancing deciphering of the chemical structure of an increasing number of individual proteins, mainly enzymes, as well as nucleic acids; detection of the phenomena of "self-assembly" of some biological objects of increasing complexity, starting from nucleic acid molecules and moving on to multicomponent enzymes, viruses, ribosomes, etc .; elucidation of allosteric and other basic principles of regulation of biological functions and processes.

Reductionism and integration. M. b. is the final stage of the direction in the study of living objects, which is designated as "reductionism", ie, the desire to reduce complex vital functions to phenomena occurring at the level of molecules and therefore accessible to study by methods of physics and chemistry. Achieved by M. b. successes demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in natural conditions in a cell, tissue, organ and the whole organism, we are dealing with systems of an increasing degree of complexity. Such systems are formed from components of more low level by means of their natural integration into the integrity, acquiring a structural and functional organization and possessing new properties. Therefore, as the knowledge about the patterns available for disclosure at the molecular and adjacent levels becomes more detailed, before M. b. the tasks of understanding the mechanisms of integration as a line of further development in the study of the phenomena of life arise. The starting point here is the study of the forces of intermolecular interactions - hydrogen bonds, van der Waals, electrostatic forces, etc. By their totality and spatial arrangement, they form what can be called “integrative information”. It should be considered as one of the main parts of the already mentioned information flow. In the area of \u200b\u200bM. b. examples of integration are the phenomenon of self-assembly of complex formations from a mixture of their constituent parts. This includes, for example, the formation of multicomponent proteins from their subunits, the formation of viruses from their constituent parts - proteins and nucleic acid, the restoration of the original structure of ribosomes after the separation of their protein and nucleic components, etc. The study of these phenomena is directly related to the knowledge of the main phenomena " recognition "of biopolymer molecules. The point is to find out what combinations of amino acids - in protein or nucleotide molecules - in nucleic acids interact with each other during the processes of association of individual molecules with the formation of complexes of a strictly specific, predetermined composition and structure. This includes the formation of complex proteins from their subunits; further, selective interaction between nucleic acid molecules, for example, transport and template (in this case, the disclosure of the genetic code has significantly expanded our information); finally, it is the formation of many types of structures (for example, ribosomes, viruses, chromosomes), in which both proteins and nucleic acids are involved. The disclosure of the corresponding regularities, the cognition of the "language" underlying these interactions, constitutes one of the most important areas of mathematical biology, still awaiting its development. This area is considered as one of the fundamental problems for the entire biosphere.

The problems of molecular biology. Along with the indicated important tasks of M. b. (knowledge of the patterns of "recognition", self-assembly and integration) an urgent direction of scientific search for the near future is the development of methods that allow to decipher the structure, and then the three-dimensional, spatial organization of high molecular weight nucleic acids. At this time, this has been achieved with respect to general plan the three-dimensional structure of DNA (double helix), but without exact knowledge of its primary structure. The rapid advances in the development of analytical methods make it possible to confidently await the achievement of these goals in the coming years. Here, of course, the main contributions come from representatives of related sciences, primarily physics and chemistry. All the most important methods, the use of which ensured the emergence and success of M. b., Were proposed and developed by physicists (ultracentrifugation, X-ray structural analysis, electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, etc.). Almost all new physical experimental approaches (for example, the use of computers, synchrotron, or bremsstrahlung, radiation, laser technology, etc.) open up new possibilities for an in-depth study of the problems of medical science. Among the most important tasks of a practical nature, the answer to which is expected from M. b., In the first place is the problem of the molecular foundations of malignant growth, then - ways of preventing, and perhaps overcoming, hereditary diseases - "molecular diseases" (See. Molecular diseases ). Elucidation of the molecular basis of biological catalysis, that is, the action of enzymes, will be of great importance. Among the most important modern directions of M. b. should include the desire to decipher the molecular mechanisms of action of hormones (See Hormones) , toxic and medicinal substances, as well as to find out the details of the molecular structure and functioning of such cellular structures as biological membranes, which are involved in the regulation of the processes of penetration and transport of substances. More distant goals of M. b. - cognition of the nature of nervous processes, memory mechanisms (See Memory), etc. One of the important emerging sections of M. b. - the so-called. genetic engineering, which sets as its task the purposeful operation of the genetic apparatus (genome) of living organisms, starting with microbes and lower (unicellular) ones and ending with humans (in the latter case, primarily for the purpose of radical treatment of hereditary diseases (see Hereditary diseases) and correction of genetic defects ). More extensive interventions into the human genetic basis can only be discussed in a more or less distant future, since this creates serious obstacles of both a technical and fundamental nature. With regard to microbes, plants, and possibly agricultural crops. For animals, such prospects are very promising (for example, obtaining varieties of cultivated plants that have an apparatus for fixing nitrogen from the air and do not need fertilizers). They build on the successes already achieved: isolating and synthesizing genes, transferring genes from one organism to another, using popular crops cells as producers of economic or medical important substances.

Organization of research in molecular biology. M.'s rapid development. entailed the emergence of a large number of specialized research centers. Their number is growing rapidly. The largest: in Great Britain - the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, the Royal Institute in London; in France - the institutes of molecular biology in Paris, Marseille, Strasbourg, the Pasteur Institute; in the USA - departments of M. b. at universities and institutes in Boston (Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), San Francisco (Berkeley), Los Angeles (California Institute of Technology), New York (Rockefeller University), health institutes in Bethesda, etc .; in Germany - the Max Planck Institutes, universities in Göttingen and Munich; in Sweden - the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; in the German Democratic Republic - the Central Institute of Molecular Biology in Berlin, institutes in Jena and Halle; in Hungary - the Biological Center in Szeged. In the USSR, the first specialized institute of M. b. was created in Moscow in 1957 in the system of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (see. ); then the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Moscow, the Institute of Protein in Pushchino, the Biological Department at the Institute of Atomic Energy (Moscow), departments of M. b. at the institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk, the Interfaculty Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry of Moscow State University, the sector (then the Institute) of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR in Kiev; significant work on M. b. is conducted at the Institute of Macromolecular Compounds in Leningrad, in a number of departments and laboratories of the USSR Academy of Sciences and other departments.

Organizations of a broader scale have sprung up along with individual research centers. IN Western Europe the European organization for M. arose. (EMBO), in which more than 10 countries participate. In the USSR, at the Institute of Molecular Biology, a scientific council for molecular biology was created in 1966, which is a coordinating and organizing center in this area of \u200b\u200bknowledge. He has published an extensive series of monographs on the most important sections of medical science, regularly organizes "winter schools" on medical science, holds conferences and symposia on topical problems of medical science. In the future, scientific advice on M. b. were created at the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences and many republican Academies of Sciences. Since 1966 the journal Molecular Biology has been published (6 issues per year).

In a relatively short period of time in the USSR, a significant detachment of researchers in the field of medical science has grown; these are scientists of the older generation who have partially switched their interests from other areas; in the main, they are numerous young researchers. Among the leading scientists who took an active part in the formation and development of M. b. in the USSR, one can name such as A. A. Baev, A. N. Belozersky, A. E. Braunshtein, Yu. A. Ovchinnikov, A. S. Spirin, M. M. Shemyakin, V. A. Engelgardt. M.'s new achievements. and molecular genetics will be promoted by the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR (May 1974) "On measures to accelerate the development of molecular biology and molecular genetics and the use of their achievements in the national economy."

Lit .: Wagner R., Mitchell G., Genetics and metabolism, trans. from English, M., 1958; Saint-Gyorgy and A., Bioenergy, trans. from English., M., 1960; Anfinsen K., Molecular foundations of evolution, trans. from English., M., 1962; Stanley W., Valens E., Viruses and the Nature of Life, trans. from English, M., 1963; Molecular Genetics, trans. from. English, part 1, M., 1964; Volkenshtein M.V., Molecules and Life. Introduction to molecular biophysics, M., 1965; F. Gaurowitz, Chemistry and Function of Proteins, trans. from English, M., 1965; Bresler SE, Introduction to molecular biology, 3rd ed., M. - L., 1973; Ingram V., Biosynthesis of macromolecules, trans. from English, M., 1966; Engelhardt VA, Molecular biology, in the book: Development of biology in the USSR, M., 1967; Introduction to Molecular Biology, trans. from English., M., 1967; Watson J., Molecular Biology of the Gene, trans. from English., M., 1967; Finean J., Biological ultrastructures, trans. from English., M., 1970; J. Bendall, Muscles, Molecules and Movement, trans. from English., M., 1970; Ichas M., Biological code, trans. from English., M., 1971; Molecular biology of viruses, M., 1971; Molecular bases of protein biosynthesis, M., 1971; Bernhard S., Structure and function of enzymes, trans. from English., M., 1971; Spirin A.S., Gavrilova L.P., Ribosoma, 2nd ed., M., 1971; Frenkel-Konrat H., Chemistry and Biology of Viruses, trans. from English., M., 1972; Smith K., Hanewalt F., Molecular Photobiology. Processes of inactivation and restoration, trans. from English., M., 1972; Harris G., Fundamentals of human biochemical genetics, trans. from English., M., 1973.

V.A.Engelgardt.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .