What Is Molecular Biology?
Molecular Biology
Biology, the study of living organisms, has many different branches and fields related to it, from computational to evolutionary to biochemical. Molecular biology is the study of the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells. This includes how biological molecules interact and function.
When we consider molecular biology let us understand what a molecule is:
A molecule is two or more atoms bonded together to form a single chemical entity.
This encompasses a very broad range of very small material (here at Malvern Panalytical we are big on small!).
A biological macromolecule is a large molecule essential to biological processes, these include proteins, nucleic acid, carbohydrates and lipids. There are other types of biological molecules included in molecular biology such as vitamins and hormones. Molecular biology includes the study of how these molecules interact and function, as well as their structure, conformation, regulation, and processing.
Why study Molecular biology
Molecular biology is a broad field of study, with crossover into many other biological fields. Such as the study of genetics; understanding gene function and genetic variation gives valuable insight into heredity and organisms evolution. Or Biochemistry, the study of chemical processes within living things such as metabolism; the life sustaining chemical reactions converting food into energy and the building blocks of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and carbohydrate, molecules essential to life.
It has offered incredible insights into how cells live and function, not just ours but all living things from plants and animals to bacteria. This had led to outstanding breakthroughs in the pharmaceutical industries as well as agriculture and food.
A large focus of molecular biology is the flow of information from genetic material to proteins; DNA to RNA (transcription) to proteins (translation). Therefore, this process and the downstream functions and interactions of the protein products are a prominent area of study in the field of molecular biology.
Proteins
Proteins are large molecules made up of amino acids and have many functions. These functions include maintaining structural integrity of cells, catalysing metabolic reactions, enabling DNA replication, acting as cell receptors, signalling molecules and transporters, and providing immune responses.
All of these different functions are enabled thanks to variation of the amino acid sequences leading to the proteins having different structures and functions. Understanding the structure, function and interactions of these proteins and their biological pathways is essential to understanding how these biological processes take place. By understanding them we can utilise them.
Proteins are used in pharmaceuticals to treat a wide variety of diseases and symptoms. Studying the protein size, structure, conformation and interactions can provide insights into critical quality attributes of these materials.
What tools can we use to study molecular biology?
There are many different tools that can be used to study molecular biology, this is not surprising considering the broad field of study it covers.
Some tools offered at Malvern Panalytical to help with the study of molecular biology are:
- MicroCal ITC: Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC). Label-free measurement of the binding affinity and thermodynamics of biomolecular interactions to understand function and mechanisms at a molecular level.
- MicroCal DSC: Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Offering confident characterisation of protein thermal stability
- WAVEsystem: Grating-Coupled Interferometry (GCI). Determine the binding kinetics and binding affinity of your biomolecules.
- OMNISEC: Multi-detection Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC). Measure molecules absolute molecular weight, size, conformation, composition and purity. Gaining insights into aggregation and stability.
- Zetasizer Advance: Dynamic light scattering (DLS). Size characterisation of molecules, identifying aggregation.
These instruments have a wide range of applications related to molecular biology, below are a collection of links to different applications notes to give some insight into the range of topics and materials that can be analysed using Malvern Panalytical technology.
Further reading
- Microcalorimetry as a tool for structural biology | Malvern Panalytical
- Preformulation and stability studies of biotherapeutics using DSC | Malvern Panalytical
- IgG monomer and aggregate characterization: A comparison between multi-detection SEC and column calibration. | Malvern Panalytical
- Strategies for improving protein therapeutic half-life using multi-detection SEC | Malvern Panalytical
- Grating Coupled Interferometry for complex membrane proteins | Malvern Panalytical