Tag Archives: molecular biology
The discovery of genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis: 1965 Nobel Prize Laureates André Lwoff, François Jacob, Jacques Monod
O. P. Matyshevska, V. M. Danilova, S. V. Komisarenko
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiyv;
e-mail: matysh@yahoo.com
Received: 19 April 2021; Accepted: 07 July 2021
The middle of the 20th century was marked by a number of significant events in molecular biology, among which the groundbreaking discovery of the double helix of DNA, which could self-replicate and thus perform the main life function; the isolation of enzymes for DNA synthesis, and DNA synthesis outside the cell, to name but a few. However, the question of how the information transmission from DNA to proteins is regulated remained open. The concept of the mechanism of regulation of prokaryotic gene activity developed by three French scientists (André Lwoff, François Jacob, Jacques Monod; Nobel Prize 1965), which was a logical outcome of the research in genetics and biochemistry over the previous decades, is recognized to be one of the remarkable achievements in molecular biology. This article describes the essence of the discovery of Lwoff, Jacob and Mono that is the identification of two different groups of genes – structural and functional – and the role that these genes perform in the transmission of genetic information.
The discovery of the DNA double helix, or the revolution that ushered in the era of molecular biology (Nobel Prize 1962)
O. P. Matyshevska*, V. M. Danilova, S. V. Komisarenko
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiyv;
*e-mail: matysh@yahoo.com
Received: 19 June 2020; Accepted: 13 November 2020
The 1950s were marked by groundbreaking discoveries in the research of the molecular structure of DNA. The chronology of awarding Nobel Prizes to the authors of these discoveries, did not always coincide with the chronology of announcing the results of their research. J. Watson and F. Crick published their short paper on the discovery of DNA structure, which rocked the scientific world, in Nature in 1953, but received the Nobel Prize together with M. Wilkins only 9 years later. The discovery of the DNA chemical structure is recognized as one of the greatest biological discoveries of the twentieth century. This landmark scientific breakthrough began the development of a new field of the life sciences: molecular biology.
Scientific and practical activity of the Department of Molecular Biology of the Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of NAS of Ukraine
R. P. Vynogradova, M. V. Grigorieva, V. M. Danilova
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail: valdan@biochem.kiev.ua
The present paper gives a detailed analysis of scientific and practical activity of the Department of Molecular Biology of the Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of NAS of Ukraine in the context of the history of its development. The most important results of the research of molecular mechanisms of regulation of glycolysis and gene expression in malignant tumors upon hypoxia; identification of key transcription factors of the regulation of proliferation and the role of alternative splicing in the regulation of the activity of the different PFKFB isoforms are reported. In recent years, the efforts of the department’s staff have been focused on studying the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress and the regulation of metabolism and proliferation processes at the level of gene expression in genome reprogramming. The obtained results allow to establish the molecular bases of pathogenesis of various diseases and to develop new effective methods for their diagnosis, prevention and treatment.