336 pages ; 24 cm

"A History of Molecular Biology is a complete but compact account for a general readership of the history of this revolution. Michel Morange, himself a molecular biologist, takes us from the turn-of-the-century convergence of molecular biology's two progenitors, genetics and biochemistry, to the perfection of gene splicing and cloning techniques in the 1980s. Drawing on the important work of American, English, and French historians of science, Morange describes the major discoveries - the double helix, messenger RNA, oncogenes, DNA polymerase - but also explains how and why these breakthroughs took place. The book is enlivened by mini-biographies of the founders of molecular biology: Delbruck, Watson and Crick, Monod and Jacob, Nirenberg." "This ambitious history covers the story of the transformation of biology over the last one hundred years; the transformation of disciplines: biochemistry, genetics, embryology, and evolutionary biology; and, finally, the emergence of the biotechnology industry." "An important contribution to the history of science, A History of Molecular Biology will also be valued by general readers for its clear explanations of the theory and practice of molecular biology today. Molecular biologists themselves will find Morange's historical perspective critical to an understanding of what is at stake in current biological research."--Jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-322) and index

The roots of the new science -- The one gene-one enzyme hypothsis -- The chemical nature of the gene -- The "phage group" -- The birth of bacterial genetics -- The crystallization of the tobacco mosaic virus -- The role of the physicists -- The influence of the Rockefeller foundation -- A new world view -- The role of physics -- The discovery of the double helix -- Deciphering the genetic code -- The discovery of messenger RNA -- The French school -- Normal science -- Genetic engineering -- Split genes and splicing -- A new molecular biology -- The discovery of oncogenes -- From DNA polymerase to the amplificationof DNA -- Molecular biology in the life sciences

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