This chapter explores the underpinnings for observational and experimental genetics. Concepts ranging from laws of Mendelian inheritance through molecular and chromosomal aspects of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structure and function are defined; their ultimate utilization in linkage mapping of simple Mendelian disease and common and genetically complex disease is presented. The chapter conclude...

Viruses have proven to be of major importance in medical science both as infectious agents and as models for molecular studies. Animal viruses containing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) genomes, in particular, provide simple model systems that can be used to address many complex biological problems. All animal DNA viruses have small genomes, relative to the host cells they infect, that can be easil...

The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of competent wild-type Haemophilus influenzae and rec1 mutant cells contains single-strand regions, as judged by alkaline sucrose sedimentation, benzoylated naphthoylated diethylaminoethyl-cellulose fractionation, and digestion with an enzyme specific for single-strand regions in DNA. In contrast, the DNA of competent rec2 cells does not contain single-strand reg...

An enzyme similar to that described by Smith and Wilcox (15) for Haemophilus influenzae which attacks foreign deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) but not its own has been isolated and purified from H. parainfluenzae. The enzyme degrades foreign DNA to limited sizes and can destroy the transforming activity of H. influenzae and Bacillus subtilis DNA. The enzyme can also destroy the biological activity o...

The mechanism of inactivation of bacteriophage T(1) in aerosols was studied by using (32)P-labeled phage. During inactivation, viability decreased in parallel with the adsorption of (32)P to the host, showing either that inactivated phage does not adsorb or that the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has left the coat. A (32)P band at the density of free DNA was found when inactivated phage was analyz...

Direct deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based detection methods are crucial for future environmental monitoring and clinical diagnosis. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the various sample preparation approaches for bacteria for direct analyses (i.e., without culturing) in environmental and clinical samples. The issues of sampling, sample preservation, separation of the microorganisms from ...

We report a low-pressure microfluidic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation device based on a combination of mechanical hydrodynamic shearing and low temperature sample heating. Conventional DNA fragmentation based on hydrodynamic shearing is capable of achieving fragment lengths (FL) < 10k bp with pressures ∆P > 1 bar. The application of a small amount of additional thermal energy to the b...

Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been extensively used in plastic pollution research, since it the advantages of great simplicity, rapidity, and low cost, being widely employed fingerprint identification molecular composition structure. The present study evaluates attenuated total reflection (ATR)–FTIR as a sensitive effective assay for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) isolated fro...

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nanotechnology enables user-defined structures to be built with unrivalled control. The approach is currently restricted across the nanoscale, yet ability generate macroscopic DNA has enormous potential applications spanning material, physical, and biological science. To address this need, I employed developed a new macromolecular nanoarchitectonic assembly method pr...