Chapter 1: Genetics: The Study of Biological Information
When available, the links under the Suggested Readings section will take you to websites
that either provide free electronic full-text versions of these references, or links to online
abstracts. All of these abstracts are themselves free. Many of the abstract sites contain
links to online full-text versions of the references; some of these full-text versions are
free, while others require personal or institutional subscriptions. None of the sites that can
be accessed through the links below are affiliated with McGraw-Hill Publishers.
DNA [all sections]
Suggested Readings

Watson JD and F.H.C. Crick. 1953. Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A
Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. Nature 737(4356) [full text links: 1 , 2]
The original paper by Watson and Crick in which they describe the structure of
the DNA molecule.

Kornberg, A. 1988. DNA Replication. The Journal of Biological Chemistry
263(1): 1-4 [full-text link]
This minireview provides a nice overview of the process of DNA replication.
Websites
 DNA from the Beginning (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/
This site acts as a mini-textbook by providing information on a variety of topics
associated with both DNA and the science of genetics. The site requires both
Quicktime and Flash players to view the animations.

DNA Interactive
http://www.dnai.org/
This site contains links (on the upper banner) to a timeline of important events in the
study of DNA, information on the genetic code, and explanations of how scientists
manipulate DNA.
Chapter 1
Conversion of DNA to RNA to Protein
Suggested Readings

Crick, F. 1970. The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology. Nature 227:561-563.
[full-text link]
This article provides a defense by Francis Crick of his 1958 article on the central
dogma of biology.

Schreiber, S.L. 2005. Small Molecules: The Missing Link in the Central Dogma.
Nature Chemical Biology 1(2):64-66. [full-text link]
A review of how the science of “chemical biology” is filling in some of the gaps
in the central dogma of biology.
Websites
 DNA to RNA to Protein at NobelPrize.org
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/dna/index.html
This site provides an overview of the movement of information from DNA to a
functional protein. By clicking on the circles within the diagram it is possible to
obtain more information on the processes of DNA replication, RNA transcription,
RNA processing, mRNA transport and protein translation.

Science Odyssey: DNA Workshop at PBS.org
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/dna/
This site contains an interactive animation that allows you to manipulate DNA to
understand the processes of DNA replication, transcription and translation. The
simulation requires that your browser have a Shockwave plugin (available from
the site).
Systems Biology and Predictive/Preventative Medicine
Suggested Readings
 Collins, F.S., M. Morgan, A. Patrinos. 2003. The Human Genome Project:
Lessons from Large-Scale Biology. Science 300(5617): 286-290
This paper examines some of the challenges of “big science” projects such as the
Human Genome Project and future projects associated with systems biology.
Chapter 1

Hood, L. JR. Heath, ME Phelps and B. Lin. 2004. Systems Biology and New
Technologies Enable Predictive and Preventative Medicine. Science
306(5696):640-643. [Entrex-PubMed link]
An examination of how a systems biology analysis of the blood may be used to
diagnose disease.

Ideker, T., T. Galitski, and L. Hood. 2001. A New Approach to Decoding Life:
Systems Biology. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet 2:343-372. [Entrez-PubMed
link]
This paper examines the concept of systems biology and presents several
examples of approaches used in systems biology.
Websites

Institute for Systems Biology
http://www.systemsbiology.org/
The links on the top menu provide a good overview of systems biology and the
systems approach. Of special interest to this chapter is the link “Using Model
Organisms” under the menu heading of “Intro to ISB and Systems Biology”.
Chapter 1