title: Molecular biology of the leukemias.
abstract: In this article we reviewed some of the important concepts and techniques of molecular biology applied to the study of lymphoid malignancies. Molecular biology is a tool for addressing certain basic research and clinical questions. It is also a key to the development of a new perspective in biology and medicine. For the first time in history the scope of our understanding of health and disease extends from populations at risk, through individual patients, these patients' tumors, the aberrant cells, the altered proteins, deregulated mRNAs, and disrupted chromosomes, down to the ultimate mutated nucleotide which leads to malignant transformation. This conceptual framework is new to our time and makes us participants as physicians, scientists, and members of society in a uniquely exciting era.
mesh_terms: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics*; D008967:Molecular Biology; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009857:Oncogenes; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm