Operators and Promoters: The Story of Molecular Biology and Its CreatorsDuring the past four decades, molecular biology has dominated the life sciences. Curiously, no participant in this scientific revolution has previously attempted a book-length history of the development of this powerful science. Harrison ("Hatch") Echols provides such an account in Operators and Promoters. A gifted molecular biologist and talented raconteur, Echols relates the intellectual history of the most influential discoveries in molecular biology from his own experiences. Echols joins his vast knowledge of biology with personal interviews of the principal operators and promoters in the field to convey a captivating side of science--specifically, how the personalities of scientists and their competitive and collaborative relations affect new ideas and discoveries. The author reveals how logic and order often arise only in hindsight from the chaos of discovery; eventual solutions often come from experiments performed for entirely different reasons. Echols also shares his deep-seated feelings for the science itself, communicating his admiration, even awe, for the purity and simplicity with which life systems are organized. This gripping insider's account of the first fifty years of molecular biology ties together the biological questions with the scientific solutions of the people who established the field. It will appeal not only to students and those interested in the development of the discipline, but to anyone intrigued by the human side of science and the process of scientific inquiry and discovery. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 2002. |
Contents
SIMPLICITY AND ELEGANCE DNA AND PROTEIN | 1 |
DNA TO PROTEIN | 11 |
GENES THAT CONTROL OTHER GENES | 35 |
4 | 65 |
MAKING RNA FROM | 102 |
NEW PROTEINS AND REVISED RNAS | 166 |
7 | 220 |
Lifestyle Crises and Salvational Decisions | 273 |
Induced Mutation in the SOS Response | 293 |
Restriction Enzymes for Pieces of DNA | 327 |
Amplification of Foreign DNA by a Plasmid Vector | 338 |
A Giant Leap for Eukaryotic Molecular Biology | 344 |
Afterword by Tom Cech | 350 |
Glossary | 359 |
A Unifying Model for Transposition 256 | 429 |
| 453 | |
Other editions - View all
Operators and Promoters: The Story of Molecular Biology and Its Creators Harrison Echols,Carol Gross No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
Acad activity amino acid assay B-galactosidase bacterial bacteriophage lambda base base-pairing binding biochemical Biol cells cellular chain chromosome cIII cleavage codon cohesive sites Cold Spring Harbor complex dimers DNA molecules DNA replication DNA sequence DNA strand DNA synthesis Escherichia coli eukaryotic experiments extract factor Figure fragments function genome heat shock proteins host hybridization identified induced infection initiation insertion integration interaction isolated Jacob Kornberg LexA lysogenic mechanism molecular biology Monod mRNA mutants Natl nonsense nucleotide operon pathway phage plaque plasmid positive regulator precursor primer Proc produced promoter prophage protein synthesis provirus purified radioactive reaction RecA region regulatory repressor response restriction enzyme reverse transcriptase ribosome RNA polymerase RNase Rous sarcoma virus rRNA site-specific recombination specific splicing Spring Harbor Symp structure subunit tein temperature termination tion transcription transposition transposon tRNA viral RNA virus viruses vitro