Fundamentals of molecular biology
The study into the fundamental components of living organisms and the processes involved in maintaining homeostasis.
The Central Dogma
The central dogma describes the fundamental process through which life continues itself, whereby information stored in stable DNA is transcribed into a more flexible RNA that is translated into functional proteins. The molecules of life are linear polymers that are assembled along an almost universal (figuratively speaking) set of rules, so that a linear DNA sequence derives an exact protein polypeptide. With the knowledge of the language of life a DNA, RNA or protein sequence can more or less informs the sequence of related sequences. This knowledge is the basis of molecular biology.
Systems biology and the omes
All life on earth is cellular (occurs in cells) and by understanding the different levels of stored information and chemical reactions occurring in cells a comprehensive picture of the physical processes of life can be described. Massive amounts of biological data has been gathered over recent decades due to improvements in molecular techniques and an increase in computational power and tools. New system wide information and approaches are creating an understanding of life and allowing manipulation of the process on a rational level.
The genome is the entire genetic (DNA) sequence of an organism and since the mid 1990s organisms' complete genomes have been assembled by researchers. Now hundreds of organisms representative genomes have been assembled and are available to the scientific community. Well equipped universities and companies have the technology to sequence whole genomes on-site in a matter of weeks. The transcriptome is the complete set of RNA transcripts that exist in a cell. The RNA transcripts of an organism will change in response to environment and internal controls, making a transcriptome only representative of a specific external and internal cellular environment. The proteome is a complete set of proteins that exist in cell and is derived from the transcriptome and other levels of regulation. A proteome is also only representative of a cell as it exists in a specific external and internal environment. In multicellular organisms the genome is funadamentally the same in all cells, while regulation of the transcriptome, proteome, and other reactions are what allow different cells to specialize and handle different functions.
A systems biology approach uses the complete descriptions of the actions of cells to understand how each level and their interactions contribute tometabolic processes and the continuation of life. A systems approach is key to extracting utility from (micro)organisms and increasing the efficiency with which it is possible. Rational manipulation of the "omes" and their regulation in a living cell can be used compel organisms to take on desirable actions and desist from undesirable action. The sharing of this information and the tools of manipulation has the potential to create better agricultural feedstocks and microorganismal microfactories.