BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PHYSIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY - NEW APPROACHES TO PERPETUAL QUESTIONS

Living organisms are the result of precise and complex associations of regulatory systems in which active biomolecules interact with one ano ther and respond to the challenges of growth and development, alterati ons in the environment, and disease. Understanding of body homeostasis may be accomplished at various levels of scientific endeavor. Physiol ogical research has brought about an enormous understanding of the fun damental principles that sustain life in health and disease. The field of molecular biology has provided new tools and strategies with which to examine physiological processes as viewed from the level of fundam ental biomolecules. The integration of both fields as ''molecular phys iology'' has provided the opportunity for another level of scientific understanding and the opening of new avenues of research. Renin is one such molecule that participates in the control of several diverse phy siological responses including changes in blood pressure, fluid and el ectrolyte homeostasis, renal function, and perhaps some elements of gr owth and differentiation. Because of the authors' bias, this review ar ticle will use renin to introduce many of the techniques of molecular biology and illustrate the areas of ongoing and potential interdepende nt activities resulting in the emerging field of molecular physiology.