分子生物学は、病気の治療、犯罪の解明、遺伝子組み換え食品などへ応用されることから、生命科学の中でも発展著しい領域です。また同時に、法や倫理面での課題というのも少なくありません。ダーウィンらが築いた分子生物学の土台から、新薬の開発といった今日の応用までを取り上げ、さらに合成生物学など今後の展望まで包括的に論じる一冊です。
   

• Covers the main concepts of the field of molecular biology, including regulatory effects, epigenetics, and gene-environment interactions
• Describes the variety of applications of molecular biology, from biotechnology to molecular forensics
• Considers the future possibilities of the field, including personalized medicine and synthetic biology

Molecular Biology is the story of the molecules of life, their relationships, and how these interactions are controlled. It is an expanding field in life sciences, and its applications are wide and growing. We can now harness the power of molecular biology to treat diseases, solve crimes, map human history, and produce genetically modified organisms and crops, and these applications have sparked a multitude of fascinating legal and ethical debates.

In this Very Short Introduction, Aysha Divan and Janice Royds examine the history, present, and future of Molecular Biology. Starting with the building blocks established by Darwin, Wallace and Mendel, and the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, they consider the wide range of applications for Molecular Biology today, including the development of new drugs, and forensic science. They also look forward to two key areas of evolving research such as personalised medicine and synthetic biology.