生物技术指南 章1.docx

Chapter 1 Scientific measurements and the scientific methodThroughout our discussion of the “Molecular Mechanisms of Age-Related Diseases”, we will be talking about atoms, molecules, and cells—things on a very small scale. Most of the information in the biological sciences (branches of science which describe living systems) is quite descriptive. Most of the information from the physical sciences (branches of science which describe the nonliving systems in the physical world), including all branches of chemistry, is typically very quantitative, with everything being measured or quantified. So we need to understand the basics of scientific measurements. LABORATORY EQUIPMENTFigure 1 shows some common laboratory equipment used to make various types of measurements. A modern research laboratory (molecular biology laboratory or laboratory in a medical center) will use many different types of tools and pieces of equipment to perform experiments and to make various types of measurements (Figure 2).Figure 1. Common laboratory equipment.Figure 2. Equipment in a typical research laboratory.THE METRIC SYSTEM AND SCIENTIFIC NOTATIONIn the scientific community, and in most countries around the world, the metric system is used (also called the SI system) to make measurements and to quantify matter in different ways. The metric system is an internationally agreed upon decimal system of measurement, and uses 7 base units (Figure 3). There are many types of units used in the metric system, but they are all derived from these 7 base units. The most common measurements used in both the biological and chemical sciences (two areas of science discussed in this book) are units of mass, length, volume, time, and temperature.Figure 3. Units of the metric system.When we talk about atoms, molecules, or cellular components, we use very small distance measurements. If we measure the number of molecules in a small volume or the number of cells in a small sample, we are using extremely large numb