What are research articles?

Research articles are the source of primary results and observations. They also contain a description of how the results/observations were obtained, for without this, you could not understand the results and their limitations. For more, see What is a research article?

Why are research articles?

In science, this is where the truth lives. Without research articles, all you can do is give back what others have fed you. For more, see Why find research articles?

Why old research articles?

To a large extent, the concepts of molecular biology were worked out by the mid 1960's. If you want to read research articles that grapple with the basic concepts, that's where you're going to have to look. However, there is an additional benefit of considering old articles. Bouncing back and forth between our present day knowledge and the time when that knowledge was gained gives you the experience of compartmentalizing what you know (or think you know). Going through the exercise of saying "Suppose I didn't already know that..." is analogous to questioning your current presumptions, a process necessary for advancing beyond where you (and we as a society) are now to where you need to be in the future.

Will there be help in reading research articles?

Yes! Believe me, research articles are seldom easy to read. You might think that research articles should be put off until you learn more molecular biology, but I've been learning biology for a few decades, and it's still tough! The best time to start is now. While there are steps you can take to make the articles more rewarding (see How to Read a Research Article), I anticipate you'll still need some help getting started. For some articles, I'll provide a companion -- me reading the article with you. Here's an example of a companion. However, do not treat companions as text books! Don't read through the companion and pretend you've learned anything worthwhile. The value of these companions is to help you work through the article yourself.