Abstract
Bohr, Delbrück and Schrödinger were physicists who had important influences on biology in the second half of the twentieth century. They thought that future studies of the gene might reveal new principles or paradoxes, analogous to the wave/particle paradox of light propagation, or even new physical laws. This stimulated several physicists to enter the field of biology. Delbrück founded the bacteriophage group which provided one of the roots of molecular biology. Another was X-ray crystallography which led to the discovery of DNA structure. The strength and success of molecular biology came from the many interactions between geneticists, physicists, chemists and biochemists. It was also characterized by a powerful combination of theoretical and experimental approaches.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beadle G. W. and Tatum E. L. 1941 Genetic control of biochemical pathways inNeurospora.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 27, 499–506.
Benzer S. 1966 Adventures in the rII region. InPhage and the origins of molecular biology (ed. J. Cairns, G. S. Stent and J. D. Watson), pp. 157–165. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of Quantitative Biology, New York.
Cairns J. 1962 Proof that the replication of DNA involves separation of the strands.Nature 194, 1274.
Cairns J., Stent G. S. and Watson J. D. (ed.) 1966Phage and the origins of molecular biology. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of Quantitative Biology, New York.
Crick F. 1966Of molecules and men. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Crick F. 1988What mad pursuit. Basic Books, New York.
Delbrück M. 1966 A physicist looks at biology. InPhage and the origins of molecular biology (ed. J. Cairns, G. S. Stent and J. D. Watson), pp. 9–22. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of Quantitative Biology, New York. (Reprinted fromTransactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (1949)38, 173–190)
Delbrück M. 1970 A physicist’s renewed look at biology: 20 years later.Science 168, 1312–1315.
Delbrück M. 1986Mind from matter. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.
Dronamraju K. R. 1999 Erwin Schrödinger and the origins of molecular biology.Genetics 153, 1071–1076.
Hayes W 1982 M. L. H. Delbrück.Biogr. Mem. Fellows R. Soc. 28, 59–90.
Hershey A. D. and Chase M. 1952 Independent functions of viral proteins and nucleic acid in growth of bacteriophage.J. Gen. Physiol. 36, 39–56.
Jacob F 1974The logic of living systems. Allen Lane, London.
Luria S. E. and Human M. L. 1952 A nonhereditary host-induced variation of bacterial viruses.J. Bacteriol. 64, 557–569.
Medvedev Z. A. 1969The rise and fall of T. D. Lysenko. Columbia University Press, New York.
Medvedev Z. A. 1982 N. W. Timofeeff-Ressovsky.Genetics 100, 1–5.
Meselson M. and Stahl F. W. 1958 The replication of DNA inEscherichia coli.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 44, 671–682.
Meselson M., Stahl F. W. and Vinograd J. 1957 Equilibrium sedimentation of macromolecules in density gradients.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 43, 581–588.
Perutz M. F. 1987 Physics and the riddle of life.Nature 326, 555–558.
Ratner V. A. 2001 Nikolay Vladimirovich Timofeeff-Ressovsky (1900–1981): twin of the century of genetics.Genetics 158, 933–939.
Schrödinger E. 1944What is life?. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Stent G. S. 1966 Introduction: waiting for the paradox. InPhage and the origins of molecular biology (ed. J. Cairns, G. S. Stent and J. D. Watson), pp. 3–8. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of Quantitative Biology, New York.
Symonds N. 1986 What is life?: Schrödinger’s influence on biology.Q. Rev. Biol. 61, 221–226.
Symonds N. 1987 SchrödingerWhat is life?.Nature 327, 663–664.
Symonds N. 1988 Schrödinger and Delbrück: their status in biology.Trends Biochem. Sci. 13, 232–234.
Taylor J. H., Woods P. S. and Hughes W. L. 1957 The organisation and duplication of chromosomes as revealed by autoradiographic studies using tritium labelled thymidine.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 43, 1519–1524.
Timofeeff-Ressovsky N. W., Zimmer K. G. and Delbrück M 1935 Uber die Natur der Genmutation und der Genstruktur.Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 6, N.F. 13, 190–245.
Watson J. D. 1965The double helix. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London.
Watson J. D. 1995 Values from a Chicago upbringing. InDNA: the double helix — perspective and prospective at forty years (ed. D. A. Chambers).Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 758, 194–197.
Wilkins M. 2003The third man of the double helix. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Witkowski J. A. 1986 Schrödinger’s “What is Life?”: entropy, order and hereditary code-scripts.Trends Biochem. Sci. 11, 266–268.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Holliday, R. Physics and the origins of molecular biology. J Genet 85, 93–97 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02729013
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02729013