Abstract
The molecular revolution in biology is fourfold : the chemical identification of hereditary material as polymerized nucleic acid, the elucidation of the structures of biological macromolecules, the proof that the structure and biosynthesis of proteins - in particular enzymes - are governed by specific genes ; and more recently, the discovery and analysis of regulatory circuits. Rarely has a current of scientific doctrines proved so rapidly fertile, so " conquering " as Bernardi calls it. The discovery of these new horizons is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in modern science, comparable to the renewal that physics underwent in 1915.
