Molecular biology is the branch of biology focusing on the molecular basis of biological activity.
The terms “molecule” and “biology” were new in the mid-nineteenth century. Although “molecule” appeared once and “biology” never appeared, neither term was defined in the Origin of Species Glossary. Nor did Charles Darwin refer to proteins or genes – “mutation” was used in a non-molecular sense.
Molecular Biology
The term was coined nearly eighty years later by the director of Natural Sciences, Warren Weaver, of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1938. At the time, acceptance of Gregor Mendel’s chromosome theory of heredity, a gene-centric perspective of biology was emerging.
Molecular biology emerged to address questions regarding the mechanisms of genetic inheritance and the structure of a gene.
When James Watson and Francis Crick described the double-helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) using X-ray crystallography technology in 1953 – the race was on.
DNA and RNA
Throughout the late twentieth century, scientists continued learning about DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA) structures and functions, focusing on the molecular basis of mutation and inheritance.
By early in the twenty-first century, modern molecular biology entered a golden age. Mapping gene locations on chromosomes, associating genes with functions and exploring genetic engineering were new tools to study evolution.
Paleobiology
Early in the twenty-first century, a new field in paleontology emerged, known as paleobiology. This field is successfully integrating molecular biology technologies into fossil record analysis.
Preserved soft tissues, cell structures, and even biomolecular complexes can now be studied, revealing a goldmine of data. Therefore, paleobiology is the scientific discipline that directly studies evidence of life’s history on Earth.
Paleobiology uses the fossil record to develop phylogenetic trees based on transitional molecular links as well as test paleontological-generated trees of life.
Molecular Biology is a subcategory of Evolution and Science that scientifically explores the validity of the theory of evolution.
Testing Molecular Biology Evidence
To understand how evidence from the fossil record challenges the theory of evolution, click to read the following –
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- Mendel Rescued Darwin – T a Point
- Inheritance By Darwin
- Phylogenetics of Coronaviruses
- Origin of Bioluminescence
- Whale Evolution Nightmare
- Zika Virus
- New Evolution Nightmare
- R2d2 Disses Darwin
- Natural Selection Unfriends Darwin
- Malarial Evolution Nightmare
- Evolution Bug
- Unpredictable Influenza Virus
- CRISPR Challenges the Tenets of Evolution Theory
- Genetics of Darwin’s Finches
- Genetic Origins Uncoding Evolution
- Evolution of Insect Genetics
- Mutation + Selection = Stasis
- Algae Defy Darwin
- Ancient Microbe Resistance
- Gene Duplication-Driven Evolution
- Ancient DNA Stability
- Evolutionary Tree of Life
- Turtle Genome
- Coelacanth Genome
- New Bird Tree of Life
- Junk DNA Theory
- Sea Star Evolution
- Gorilla Genome Sequence
- Butterfly Nightmare
- Fruit Fly Genetics Research, 100 Years Later
- RNA World
- Chimp Genetics
- Darwin, DNA, and the Neanderthals
- Evolution of Molecular Clocks
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Refer to the Glossary for the definition of terms.
