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DNA: MOLECULE OF THE CENTURY |  | |||||
 | How to download these files Illuminating DNA is available as downloadable Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files. Details of how to obtain a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader software are given here. | | ||||
This section consists of 10 pages of background information, briefly describing some of the key techniques of molecular biology, including:
Techniques of genetic modification, including the role of:
Transformation methods, including:
Other important techniques:
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OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION | ||
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The background information in 'Illuminating DNA' is necessarily brief. For a fuller account, the best reference is: Essential cell biology by Bruce Alberts, et al. (1997) Garland Publishing, New York.ISBN: 0 8153 2971 7. This is the 'mini version' of the classic text Molecular Biology of the Cell. Although this book is aimed primarily at undergraduates, the explanations are clear and cover many basic concepts, making large portions suitable for a 16-19 year-old audience. The full-colour illustrations are superb, often with double-page spreads to introduce key concepts - the book is worth consulting for these alone. More recent copies come with a free CD-ROM (Mac and PC on the same disc), featuring such things as an animated explanation of protein synthesis. The publishers also sell overhead projector transparencies of selected images from the book, plus all of the graphics on CD-ROM. You can download sample pages (as PDF files) from the Garland Publishing Web site. No less well-illustrated (although only in two colours) is Life chemistry and molecular biology. An introductory text by E. J. Wood, C. A. Smith and W. R. Pickering (1996) Portland Press. ISBN: 1 85578 064 X. This book has the advantage of being written specifically for 'A' Level biology students. Microbial World at the University of Edinburgh provides an excellent profile of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. | ||
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HISTORY | ||
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The most comprehensive and authoritative account of the short history of molecular biology is Horace Freeland Judson's classic, The eighth day of creation (1996) [Second, expanded edtn.] Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN: 0 87969 478 5. Even though it's a paperback, this 714-page tome is relatively expensive (the cheaper Penguin copy of the first edition being out-of-print). You will have to buy it direct from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press or from an on-line bookseller such as Amazon. In its short history, human genetics has experienced several terrible periods, some of which are well-documented in Daniel J. Kevles's In the name of eugenics (1995) Harvard University Press. ISBN: 0 674 44557 0. Cold Spring Harbor's Dolan DNA Learning Center has recently put many of its records from the time in which it was a focus for eugenic 'research' on-line, and the site is well worth a look, even though it can be slow to download on the British side of the pond. A modern perspective on the human genome project is provided by Matt Ridley's superb Genome: the autobiography of a species in 23 chapters (2000) Fourth Estate. ISBN: 1 85702 835 X. | ||
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PRACTICAL WORK | ||
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The 'bible' for practical work with DNA in schools is the Dolan DNA Learning Center's DNA Science. A first course in recombinant DNA technology by David Micklos and Greg Freyer (2002, Second edition) Carolina Biological Supply Company / Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN: 0 87969 636 2. The introductory theory section has been updated for this second edition, and the practical exercises which form the latter part of the book are second-to-none. Most can readily be done in the EU, although some of the transformations are not self-cloning ones, so caution is required. A version of these protocols alone (with some additional exercises) is provided by Laboratory DNA Science. An introduction to recombinant DNA techniques and methods of genome analysis by Mark Bloom, Greg Freyer and David Micklos (1996) The Benjamin / Cummings Publishing Company. ISBN: 0 8053 3040 2. | ||
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MOLECULAR STRUCTURE DATA | ||
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Some of the molecular structure data used in the booklet comes from the Protein Data Bank (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb). The data for the molecules came from: DNA T7 ligase - PDB ID: 1A0I DNA polymerase - PDB ID: 1TAU DNA - PDB ID: 1D66 ß-galactosidase - PDB ID: 3PBG | ||
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Copyright © National Centre for Biotechnology Education, 2006 | www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk | ||
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