The Chemical Foundations and Structural Unveiling of the Gene

Abstract

This chapter delves into the chemical and structural basis of genes, starting with early investigations that linked genes to enzyme activity. It highlights significant milestones, such as Beadle and Tatum's one-gene-one-enzyme hypothesis and Linus Pauling's refinement to one-gene-one-polypeptide. The chapter also explores the discovery of DNA's chemical composition, emphasizing contributions from scientists like Miescher, Avery, and Levene. Chargaff's rules and the race to unveil DNA's doublehelix structure by Watson and Crick are discussed. Finally, it explains the mechanisms of DNA replication, emphasizing the semiconservative model and the roles of leading and lagging strands.

Keywords: Base pairing, DNA replication, DNA structure, Gene expression, Nucleic acids.

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