Molecular Biology — Overview

Notes on molecular biology: the molecules and mechanisms of the cell, from the central dogma to the lab techniques that probe them.

Topics to cover

• The central dogma: DNA → RNA → protein
• Transcription, translation, and regulation
• Replication, repair, and recombination
• Techniques: PCR, cloning, CRISPR, sequencing

Reaction kinetics

Many molecular processes follow Michaelis–Menten kinetics, relating reaction rate $v$ to substrate concentration $[S]$:

$$v = \frac{V_{\max}\,[S]}{K_m + [S]}$$

where $V_{\max}$ is the maximum rate and $K_m$ is the substrate concentration at half-maximal rate ($v = V_{\max}/2$).

PCR amplifies DNA roughly exponentially; after $n$ cycles with efficiency $E \in [0, 1]$, the copy number is approximately $N_0 (1 + E)^n$.

Next steps

Add pages such as central-dogma.md, pcr.md, or crispr.md to this folder.