Introduction -- Prehistory of molecular biology : 1848-1944 -- Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty identified DNA as the genetic material -- Hershey and Chase clinched the role of DNA as the genetic material -- Discovery of the structure of DNA -- Meselson and Stahl proved that DNA is replicated in a semiconservative fashion -- Defining the genetic code -- The adaptor hypothesis and the discovery of transfer RNA -- The discovery and rediscovery of prokaryotic messenger RNA -- The deciphering of the genetic code -- The surprising discovery of split genes and of RNA splicing -- Postscript : on the place of theory and experiment in molecular biology
