A set of slides for a first-year university tutorial based around some of the seminal experiments from the history of Molecular Biology. Learning outcomes and instructions are detailed, as well as providing starting point references for students.

1. A Brief History of Molecular
Biology
Tutorial Overview
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2. Learning outcomes
• You will gain practice in critically reading scientific
papers, discussing their context and relevance
• You will develop your presentation, research and group
working skills
• You will learn how using the scientific method led to
great leaps forward in knowledge using well-designed
experiments
• Gain an appreciation of the people and work that has
led to our current state of knowledge
• Develop your enthusiasm for good science – whenever
it was carried out!

3. Since the term was first used in 1938, Molecular Biology, has advanced using the scientific method
By ArchonMagnus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42164616

4. The Task
• In your group of 3 choose one of the Classic Molecular
Biology Experiments listed and list your choice on the
course FB page – only 1 group per experiment!
• Prepare a 15 minute presentation – be as creative or
theatrical as you like but each member of the group must
speak. How you organize this is up to your group

5. The Task
• The presentation must cover the elements of the
scientific method – so you will need to research the state
of knowledge prior to the experiment, the hypothesis,
the method and the data before finally describing how
this work revised what was known or provided a great
leap in understanding
• Include interesting information abut the scientists
themselves, any controversy & how well their hypothesis
or conclusions was received

6. The Task
• Remember to reference sources correctly and use a
wide-range (not just Wikipedia!!)
• Be persuasive and enthusiastic – we will vote for the
experiment which we feel caused the biggest advance in
knowledge

7. Avery, Macleod & McCarty
DNA is the heritable material
Avery, Macleod & McCarty (1944) Studies on the
Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing
Transformation of Pneumococcal Types: Induction of
Transformation by a Deoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction
Isolated from Pneumococcus Type III Journal of
Experimental Medicine 79(2):137-158

8. McClintock
The regulation of genes
McClintock (1950) The origin and behaviour of
mutable loci in Maize PNAS 36(6):344-355

9. Franklin, Gosling, Wilkins, Watson & Crick
X-ray crystallography revealing the structure of DNA
Franklin & Gosling (1953) Molecular Configuration in sodium
thymonucleate. Nature 171, 740-741
Wilkins, Stokes & Wilson Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids:
Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids. Nature
171, 738-740
Watson & Crick (1953) Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a
structre for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature 171, 737-738

10. Hershey & Chase
Confirmed DNA is heritable material
Hershey & Chase, (1952) independent functions of
viral protein and nucleic acid in the growth of
bacteriophage J. General Physiology 36 (1):39-56

11. Meselson & Stahl
The semiconservative nature of DNA
replication
Meselson & Stahl (1958) The replication of
DNA in E. coli PNAS 44:671-682

12. Crick, Brenner, Barnett and Watts-Tobin
The Triplet Codon
Crick, Barnett, Brenner & Watts-Tobin (1961)
General nature of the genetic code for proteins
Nature 192(4809) 1227-1232

13. Gilbert, Maxam & Sanger
DNA sequencing
Maxam & Gilbert (1977) A new method for
sequencing DNA PNAS 74 (2):560-564
Sanger & Coulson (1975) A rapid method for
determining sequences in DNA by primed synthesis
with DNA polymerase J. Mol. Biol 94(3):441-448

14. Mullis
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Mullis, Faloona, Scharf, Saiki, Horn & Erlich (1986)
Specific enzymatic amplification of DNA in vitro.
CSHS in Quantitative Biology 51:263-273