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Even since it was realized that an organism does not pass a simulacrum of itself
to the next generation,but instead provides it with genetic material containing
the information needed to construct a progeny organism,
we have wanted to define the nature of this material and the manner in which its information is utilized.
Now that we know the physical structure of the genetic material,
we may state the aim of molecular biology as defining the complexity of living organisms in terms of
the properties of their constituent molecules.

The gene is the unit of genetic infomation.The crucial feature of Mendel's work,
a century ago,was the realization that the gene is a distinct entity.
The era of the molecular biology of the gene began in 1945 when Schrodinger developed
the view that the laws of physics might be inadequate to account for the properties of the genetic material,
in particular its stability during innumerable generations of inheritance.
The gene was expected to obey the laws of the physics so far established,
but it was thought that characterizing the genetic material might lead to the discovery of new laws of physics,
a prospect that brought many physicists into biology.

Now, of course,we know that a gene is a huge molecule,
in fact part of a vast length of genetic material containing many genes.
A gene does not function autonomously,
but relies upon other cellular components for its perpetuation and function.
All of these activities obey the known laws of physics and chemistry;
and it has not,in the end,been necessary to invoke new laws.

オリンピックみたいな世界の大会が最近、やたら多いような気がする。
しょっちゅうやっているような。