Molecular Biology: Gene Expression Techniques and Cancer

The field of molecular biology has a profound impact in life science investigation. The development of more and more sophisticated experimental techniques in molecular biology with a broad, interdisciplinary applicability have stimulated research and progress in almost all the disciplines of life science. The rationality and approach of scientific experimentations have changed and allowing revolutionizing discoveries not only in molecular biology but also in biochemistry, biophysics, biotechnology, cell biology, and genetics.

Reserachers can choose suitable techniques based on their usefulness, objectives and the financial and temporal resources available to the them. Many molecular biology techniques have extensively been used in the study of gene expression. Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product (mRNA) that enables it to produce end products (protein), and ultimately affect a phenotype, as the final effect.

The techniques for mRNA expression analysis are very sensitive, speedy and provide complete picture. The study of gene expression involves the comparison of mRNA populations between two samples, treated versus untreated, diseased versus healthy, stage A of development versus stage B of development. The techniques used to study mRNA expression are generally divied into hybridization-based techniques, PCR-based techniques and sequencing-based techniques.

Hybridization-based techniques employ hybridization process to detect particular sequences within a complex mixture of DNA or RNA molecules. The three most popular hybridization based techniques i. e.