Molecular biosciences can be best viewed as a dynamic continuum in which approaches derived from chemistry, physics and biology are utilized to address the fundamental mechanisms of living things. The School of Molecular Biosciences encompasses several areas each described here in more detail.
Biochemistry is the study of life on the molecular level.
It is the central discipline of the molecular biosciences and their biomedical applications. Biochemistry developed as biologists turned their interests to the molecules that are crucial for life and as chemists begin to focus on the reactions that occur in living cells. This field is an early and prominent example of the productivity and excitement that occurs at the interface between previously established disciplines. As biochemistry itself developed, its integration with genetics produced the vibrant field of molecular biology. Cell biology deals with the structure and function of the various constituents of the living cells, such as the cell membrane, the flagella responsible for cell movements, cell differentiation in the developing organism, abnormal cell division as in cancer, and metabolic interactions between cell compartments.