The Role of Chemistry

Abstract

There has been a revolution in the techniques of biology over the past ten years that has dramatically changed the face of modern biology. Three biotechnologies, recombinant DNA techniques, monoclonal antibody techniques and microchemical instrumentation, have made especially important contributions to this revolution that has come to be called the new biology. These biotechnologies are synergistic and together they have greatly shortened the time between many fundamental biological observations and their clinical applications in the world of medicine. Most have some perception of the recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibody techniques. I will focus on the third, microchemical instrumentation, machines that synthesize and sequence genes and proteins, because it demonstrates the power of chemical techniques in biology.

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