Viral and bacterial systems will establish the principles necessary to explore higher eukaryotic systems. The replicon and mechanisms of action of DNA modifying enzymes, including DNA polymerases and reverse transcriptase, will be discussed. In addition to the biochemistry and enzymology of transcription and RNA structure, considerable attention will be focused on regulation of gene expression. Simplified systems such as the lac operon and bacteriophage lambda will set the stage for an introduction of eukaryotic regulation. The final section will explore translation of nucleic acid information into proteins.
Genes perpetuate themselves and exert their action through the proteins they encode.
The ribosome translational apparatus, mRNA as template and tRNA as adaptor molecule, will therefore be studied. This section will include a recapitulation of the central theme of molecular biology, namely the mechanism of transmission of information contained in the DNA structure through RNA, and its final expression as functional protein.