Today's Curiosity is Tomorrow's Cure: The Case for Basic Biomedical Research

225 Pages·2021·76.957 MB·English

by  Steve Caplan

Today’s Curiosity is
Tomorrow’s Cure

Today’s Curiosity is
Tomorrow’s Cure
The Case for Basic Biomedical Research
Steve Caplan, PhD
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Nebraska Medical Center
First edition published 2022
by CRC Press
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and by CRC Press
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© 2022 Steve Caplan
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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Library of Congress Cataloging–in–Publication Data
Names: Caplan, Steve, author.
Title: Today’s curiosity is tomorrow’s cure : the case for basic biomedical research /
Steve Caplan, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Description: First edition. | Boca Raton : CRC Press, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021021786 | ISBN 9781032065083 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781032065953 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003202974 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Medical sciences--Research.
Classification: LCC R850 .C37 2022 | DDC 610.72--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021786
ISBN: 978-1-032-06595-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-06508-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-20297-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003202974
Typeset in Times
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
This book is dedicated to all types of scientists throughout history.
To human curiosity and perseverance, and all those who strive
to make sense of our world. From the teachers of science in
schools, to those who train the next generation of scientists at
undergraduate institutions, to those engaged in active research
in the laboratory: no finding is too small, insignificant, or
unworthy, as long as valid scientific methods are maintained.
From the most prestigious Nobel laureates to the earliest stage
undergraduate researchers, every scientist is a part of the vast
fabric that advances and improves the human condition. No one
can predict where the next big breakthrough will come from,
but one prediction can accurately be made: the greater the
investment in science and the more scientific research conducted,
the more breakthroughs there will be. Scientists, take pride!

Contents
Acknowledgments ....................................................................................xi
Preface ....................................................................................................xiii
Introduction ...........................................................................................xvii
Chapter 1 The Birth of Genetics* .........................................................1
Chapter 2 The Dawn of DNA* ..............................................................5
Chapter 3 DNA as the Transforming Principle* ...................................9
Chapter 4 The Structure of DNA Lends Itself to a Model for Its
Duplication** ......................................................................13
Chapter 5 Tying It All Together: tRNA, mRNA, Ribosomes, and
the Genetic Code*** ...........................................................17
Chapter 6 The Practicality of PCR: The Technology that
Drove the Biotechnology and the Molecular Biology
Revolution*** .....................................................................29
Chapter 7 Genetic Engineering and Beyond: From Animal
Models to Silencing RNA** ...............................................35
Mouse Models for Studying Protein Function ....................38
Silence, Please! Silencing RNA: A New Method to
Study Protein Function in Cells .........................................39
Chapter 8 CRISPR, a New Technique for Gene Editing*** ................43
* Non-scientists should be able to understand and appreciate the majority of this chapter.
** Some of the details in this chapter will require some scientific background.
*** While the general principles in this chapter are understandable to the non-specialist reader, the
technical and scientific details require a strong scientific background and may be more chal-
lenging for a layperson.
vii
viii Contents
Chapter 9 Connecting Mutations to Disease: Abnormal Proteins
as a Cause of Disease** ......................................................51
Chapter 10 Penicillin: The Dawn of a New Age of Antibiotics* ...........55
Chapter 11 Easy to Stomach: The Gutsy Discovery that
Helicobacter pylori Causes Ulcers* ...................................59
Chapter 12 Insulin: A Hormone Controlling Metabolism* ..................63
Chapter 13 The Stem Cell: The Mother of All Cells** ........................67
Chapter 14 Antibodies: A New Way to Harness the Immune
Response** .........................................................................73
The Generation of Monoclonal Antibodies ........................80
Monoclonal Antibodies in Biomedical Research ...............83
Monoclonal Antibodies in Medicine ..................................83
Chapter 15 Onto Oncogenes: Discovering the Molecular Basis of
Cancer*** ...........................................................................87
A Suppressor Surprise—Tumor Suppressors to
the Rescue ..........................................................................94
Chapter 16 The Age of Angiogenesis: Discovering How Blood
Vessels Are Generated* ......................................................97
Chapter 17 Telling the Tale of the Telomere and Telomerase: The
End of the End-Replication Problem*** ...........................103
Chapter 18 The Primary Cilium: Novel Functions for an Old
Organelle* .........................................................................107
Chapter 19 The Discovery of the Golgi Complex: A Pivotal
Organelle with Multiple Functions** ................................113
Contents ix
Chapter 20 The Lysosome: A Trash Bin and End of the Road for
Many Cellular Molecules** ..............................................119
Chapter 21 The Ubiquitin-Proteasomal Pathway: Targeted Protein
Degradation and More*** ................................................125
Chapter 22 Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis: Gateway
to the Cell** ......................................................................129
Chapter 23 Mitochondria: The Metabolic Powerhouse
of the Cell*** ....................................................................135
Chapter 24 The Light at the End of the Tunnel: Discovery of the
Green Fluorescent Protein* ...............................................141
Conclusions ...........................................................................................147
Glossary of Terms ................................................................................151
Bibliography .........................................................................................171
Index ......................................................................................................193