Peptide hormones and current problems of biotechnology

Abstract

The study of peptide hormones is a rapidly and dynamically developing field of biology throughout the world, closely associated with the latest achievements of fundamental science and medical practice. The study of peptide hormones was greatly influenced by recent major events in science. In the mid-70s, thanks to classical studies by F. Sanger et al., A. M. Mahat and W. Gilbert, efficient methods for sequencing DNA nucleotide sequences were developed. Later this event became known as the revolution in molecular biology. Together with the existing methods for cloning fragments of nucleotide sequences in plasmids and phages, they made it possible to develop a modern recombinant DNA methodology, which formed the basis of rapidly developing genetic engineering biotechnology, bioorganic chemistry, molecular genetics, microbiology, virology, and a number of other scientific disciplines. Recent advances in molecular biology have tremendously accelerated the entire process of scientific knowledge and made it a reality, for example, to develop global scientific programs such as the study of the complete nucleotide sequence of the human genome. It is no exaggeration to say that over the past 20 years, biological science has accumulated more experimental data than over the entire previous period of its development. At present, 70-80% of research in the advanced countries of the world is carried out using molecular biology methods, which now allow us to solve such scientific problems within 1 year that previously had to be spent decades.