ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part shows that one detailed study focused on the role of somatic mutation in controlling the affinity of antigen for antibody. It examines the effectiveness of gene sequencing to unravel the complexities of the most difficult biological problems. The part reviews of the methods developed to study the behavior of transcription initiation and termination sites through the use of specially designed vectors. The analysis of genes and proteins, their biochemistry and their regulation, is but a small part of the subject matter of biology. Issues of cell movement, cellular communication, organ formation, and organism behavior are, despite initial skepticism, rapidly becoming part of the frontier to which molecular biology is contributing. Many proteins that are present in cells in such minute quantities that they would be difficult to identify by conventional methods have become accessible to analysis.
