An RNA Phage Lab: MS2 in Walter Fiers' laboratory of molecular biology in Ghent, from genetic code to gene and genome, 1963-1976.
Identifieur interne : 000266 ( Main/Exploration ); précédent : 000265; suivant : 000267An RNA Phage Lab: MS2 in Walter Fiers' laboratory of molecular biology in Ghent, from genetic code to gene and genome, 1963-1976.
Auteurs : Jérôme Pierrel [France]Source :
- Journal of the history of biology [ 0022-5010 ] ; 2012.
Descripteurs français
- KwdFr :
- MESH :
- histoire : Biologie moléculaire.
- Belgique, Histoire du 20ème siècle, Phages à ARN.
- Wicri :
- geographic : Belgique.
English descriptors
- KwdEn :
- MESH :
- geographic : Belgium.
- history : Molecular Biology.
- History, 20th Century, RNA Phages.
Abstract
The importance of viruses as model organisms is well-established in molecular biology and Max Delbrück's phage group set standards in the DNA phage field. In this paper, I argue that RNA phages, discovered in the 1960s, were also instrumental in the making of molecular biology. As part of experimental systems, RNA phages stood for messenger RNA (mRNA), genes and genome. RNA was thought to mediate information transfers between DNA and proteins. Furthermore, RNA was more manageable at the bench than DNA due to the availability of specific RNases, enzymes used as chemical tools to analyse RNA. Finally, RNA phages provided scientists with a pure source of mRNA to investigate the genetic code, genes and even a genome sequence. This paper focuses on Walter Fiers' laboratory at Ghent University (Belgium) and their work on the RNA phage MS2. When setting up his Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Fiers planned a comprehensive study of the virus with a strong emphasis on the issue of structure. In his lab, RNA sequencing, now a little-known technique, evolved gradually from a means to solve the genetic code, to a tool for completing the first genome sequence. Thus, I follow the research pathway of Fiers and his 'RNA phage lab' with their evolving experimental system from 1960 to the late 1970s. This study illuminates two decisive shifts in post-war biology: the emergence of molecular biology as a discipline in the 1960s in Europe and of genomics in the 1990s.
DOI: 10.1007/s10739-010-9267-z
PubMed: 21190066
Affiliations:
Links toward previous steps (curation, corpus...)
- to stream PubMed, to step Corpus: 000019
- to stream PubMed, to step Curation: 000019
- to stream PubMed, to step Checkpoint: 000019
- to stream Ncbi, to step Merge: 000150
- to stream Ncbi, to step Curation: 000150
- to stream Ncbi, to step Checkpoint: 000150
- to stream Main, to step Merge: 000261
- to stream Main, to step Curation: 000266
Le document en format XML
<record><TEI><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title xml:lang="en">An RNA Phage Lab: MS2 in Walter Fiers' laboratory of molecular biology in Ghent, from genetic code to gene and genome, 1963-1976.</title>
<author><name sortKey="Pierrel, Jerome" sort="Pierrel, Jerome" uniqKey="Pierrel J" first="Jérôme" last="Pierrel">Jérôme Pierrel</name>
<affiliation wicri:level="3"><nlm:affiliation>Laboratoire Épistémê (EA 2971), Bordeaux University, 40 rue Lamartine, 33405 Talence, France. jerome.pierrel@u-bordeaux1.fr</nlm:affiliation>
<country xml:lang="fr">France</country>
<wicri:regionArea>Laboratoire Épistémê (EA 2971), Bordeaux University, 40 rue Lamartine, 33405 Talence</wicri:regionArea>
<placeName><region type="region" nuts="2">Nouvelle-Aquitaine</region>
<region type="old region" nuts="2">Aquitaine</region>
<settlement type="city">Talence</settlement>
</placeName>
</affiliation>
</author>
</titleStmt>
<publicationStmt><idno type="wicri:source">PubMed</idno>
<date when="2012">2012</date>
<idno type="doi">10.1007/s10739-010-9267-z</idno>
<idno type="RBID">pubmed:21190066</idno>
<idno type="pmid">21190066</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/PubMed/Corpus">000019</idno>
<idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="PubMed" wicri:step="Corpus" wicri:corpus="PubMed">000019</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/PubMed/Curation">000019</idno>
<idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="PubMed" wicri:step="Curation">000019</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/PubMed/Checkpoint">000019</idno>
<idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="Checkpoint" wicri:step="PubMed">000019</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Ncbi/Merge">000150</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Ncbi/Curation">000150</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Ncbi/Checkpoint">000150</idno>
<idno type="wicri:doubleKey">0022-5010:2012:Pierrel J:an:rna:phage</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Main/Merge">000261</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Main/Curation">000266</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Main/Exploration">000266</idno>
</publicationStmt>
<sourceDesc><biblStruct><analytic><title xml:lang="en">An RNA Phage Lab: MS2 in Walter Fiers' laboratory of molecular biology in Ghent, from genetic code to gene and genome, 1963-1976.</title>
<author><name sortKey="Pierrel, Jerome" sort="Pierrel, Jerome" uniqKey="Pierrel J" first="Jérôme" last="Pierrel">Jérôme Pierrel</name>
<affiliation wicri:level="3"><nlm:affiliation>Laboratoire Épistémê (EA 2971), Bordeaux University, 40 rue Lamartine, 33405 Talence, France. jerome.pierrel@u-bordeaux1.fr</nlm:affiliation>
<country xml:lang="fr">France</country>
<wicri:regionArea>Laboratoire Épistémê (EA 2971), Bordeaux University, 40 rue Lamartine, 33405 Talence</wicri:regionArea>
<placeName><region type="region" nuts="2">Nouvelle-Aquitaine</region>
<region type="old region" nuts="2">Aquitaine</region>
<settlement type="city">Talence</settlement>
</placeName>
</affiliation>
</author>
</analytic>
<series><title level="j">Journal of the history of biology</title>
<idno type="ISSN">0022-5010</idno>
<imprint><date when="2012" type="published">2012</date>
</imprint>
</series>
</biblStruct>
</sourceDesc>
</fileDesc>
<profileDesc><textClass><keywords scheme="KwdEn" xml:lang="en"><term>Belgium</term>
<term>History, 20th Century</term>
<term>Molecular Biology (history)</term>
<term>RNA Phages</term>
</keywords>
<keywords scheme="KwdFr" xml:lang="fr"><term>Belgique</term>
<term>Biologie moléculaire (histoire)</term>
<term>Histoire du 20ème siècle</term>
<term>Phages à ARN</term>
</keywords>
<keywords scheme="MESH" type="geographic" xml:lang="en"><term>Belgium</term>
</keywords>
<keywords scheme="MESH" qualifier="histoire" xml:lang="fr"><term>Biologie moléculaire</term>
</keywords>
<keywords scheme="MESH" qualifier="history" xml:lang="en"><term>Molecular Biology</term>
</keywords>
<keywords scheme="MESH" xml:lang="en"><term>History, 20th Century</term>
<term>RNA Phages</term>
</keywords>
<keywords scheme="MESH" xml:lang="fr"><term>Belgique</term>
<term>Histoire du 20ème siècle</term>
<term>Phages à ARN</term>
</keywords>
<keywords scheme="Wicri" type="geographic" xml:lang="fr"><term>Belgique</term>
</keywords>
</textClass>
</profileDesc>
</teiHeader>
<front><div type="abstract" xml:lang="en">The importance of viruses as model organisms is well-established in molecular biology and Max Delbrück's phage group set standards in the DNA phage field. In this paper, I argue that RNA phages, discovered in the 1960s, were also instrumental in the making of molecular biology. As part of experimental systems, RNA phages stood for messenger RNA (mRNA), genes and genome. RNA was thought to mediate information transfers between DNA and proteins. Furthermore, RNA was more manageable at the bench than DNA due to the availability of specific RNases, enzymes used as chemical tools to analyse RNA. Finally, RNA phages provided scientists with a pure source of mRNA to investigate the genetic code, genes and even a genome sequence. This paper focuses on Walter Fiers' laboratory at Ghent University (Belgium) and their work on the RNA phage MS2. When setting up his Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Fiers planned a comprehensive study of the virus with a strong emphasis on the issue of structure. In his lab, RNA sequencing, now a little-known technique, evolved gradually from a means to solve the genetic code, to a tool for completing the first genome sequence. Thus, I follow the research pathway of Fiers and his 'RNA phage lab' with their evolving experimental system from 1960 to the late 1970s. This study illuminates two decisive shifts in post-war biology: the emergence of molecular biology as a discipline in the 1960s in Europe and of genomics in the 1990s.</div>
</front>
</TEI>
<affiliations><list><country><li>France</li>
</country>
<region><li>Aquitaine</li>
<li>Nouvelle-Aquitaine</li>
</region>
<settlement><li>Talence</li>
</settlement>
</list>
<tree><country name="France"><region name="Nouvelle-Aquitaine"><name sortKey="Pierrel, Jerome" sort="Pierrel, Jerome" uniqKey="Pierrel J" first="Jérôme" last="Pierrel">Jérôme Pierrel</name>
</region>
</country>
</tree>
</affiliations>
</record>
Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
EXPLOR_STEP=$WICRI_ROOT/Ticri/CIDE/explor/EpistemeV1/Data/Main/Exploration
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_STEP/biblio.hfd -nk 000266 | SxmlIndent | more
Ou
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_AREA/Data/Main/Exploration/biblio.hfd -nk 000266 | SxmlIndent | more
Pour mettre un lien sur cette page dans le réseau Wicri
{{Explor lien |wiki= Ticri/CIDE |area= EpistemeV1 |flux= Main |étape= Exploration |type= RBID |clé= pubmed:21190066 |texte= An RNA Phage Lab: MS2 in Walter Fiers' laboratory of molecular biology in Ghent, from genetic code to gene and genome, 1963-1976. }}
Pour générer des pages wiki
HfdIndexSelect -h $EXPLOR_AREA/Data/Main/Exploration/RBID.i -Sk "pubmed:21190066" \ | HfdSelect -Kh $EXPLOR_AREA/Data/Main/Exploration/biblio.hfd \ | NlmPubMed2Wicri -a EpistemeV1
![]() | This area was generated with Dilib version V0.6.31. | ![]() |