Molecular biology studies biological phenomena based on the structure of molecules.
Molecular biology is a specialization focused on the analysis of biological phenomena from the perspective of the structure of molecules . It can be said that it studies, from a molecular point of view, the processes carried out by living organisms. Through knowledge about the properties of molecules, it is possible to explain various issues in life.
It should be noted that biology is the science dedicated to the study of the composition, development, relationships and functioning of living organisms. Molecular , for its part, is that linked to molecules : the minimum units of an element that maintain their chemical properties and that can be composed of different or identical atoms.
Molecular biology studies
In general, molecular biology is oriented towards macromolecules : those that have a larger size and molecular weight. In this framework, proteins and nucleic acids , two macromolecules of enormous relevance in the functioning of organisms, acquire particular importance.
Molecular biology experts study the composition, structure and functions of molecules that are fundamental in the development of vital processes. Protein synthesis , the links between deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA ) and ribonucleic acid ( RNA ) and metabolism are some of the topics of interest to molecular biologists.
Molecular biology analyzes the links between DNA and RNA.
Biological chemistry and organic chemistry
One of the branches of science related to molecular biology is biological chemistry , the area dedicated to the study of the biomolecules that make up living beings and the way in which they interact according to the chemical and physical laws of inanimate matter so that life is maintained and prolonged. This discipline is also interested in the observation of organisms according to the molecular changes that derive from the metabolic procedures that characterize them.
In short, we can say that molecular biology differs from biological chemistry in that the latter contemplates the history of DNA molecules, which is why they observe their past in their structure (the moment in which their constitution took place). . An organic molecule that is created at this moment, on the other hand, only knows its present, it has no past or history.
On the other hand, there is organic chemistry , a branch of chemistry that covers the study of a large number of molecules, many of which have in their composition carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon covalent bonds, between various heteroatoms, which are They are also known as organic compounds . Since carbon is present in all compounds in this branch, it is also commonly called carbon chemistry .
Molecular biology and other sciences
As molecular biology studies molecules from the point of view of their biological behavior , it is in constant relationship with other sciences. For example, it shares with genetics an interest in the functioning and structure of genes, as well as in the regulation of the synthesis of certain proteins, such as enzymes.
It also approaches cytology , when it observes the structure of the subcellular corpuscles (nucleolus, nucleus, robosomes, lysosomes, mitochondria, etc.) and the functions they carry out inside the cell. What is in common with Biochemistry is the study of the kinetics and composition of enzymes, with a special interest in the classes of activations, enzymatic catalysis and allosteric inhibitions, for example.
Despite these and other relationships that molecular biology establishes with certain sciences, it differs from all of them because of the methods it uses to achieve its objectives.