Molecular and Cellular Biology
Molecular and cellular biology are fundamental and interdisciplinary research areas that seek to explain the organizing principles of biology at molecular and spatial resolution. Our goal is to understand fundamental mechanisms underpinning function in multi-cellular organisms. These approaches are foundational to all basic medical sciences, organismal biology, and the understanding of host-pathogen balance.
In the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Scripps Research, we address the challenge of unraveling complex biology by seeking to understand how intracellular and intercellular signals interact with regulatory circuitry to manage human health and disease. Using the tools of cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genomics, proteomics, high-resolution imaging, computation, and chemical biology, we can study these basic problems empirically by the integrative power of inductive logic and systems analyses. We are inspired by the impacts that molecular and cellular biology research continue to have on the discernment of mechanisms and the improvements in outcomes of human quality of life.
Key faculty strengths at the center include the regulation of gene expression, intracellular trafficking, protein folding, metabolism, systems biology of aging, leukocyte biology, genome stability maintenance, and drug development. Together, we take advantage of the highly collaborative environment of our department and the broader institute to push the boundaries of methods, technologies, and insights to break through the limits of today’s scientific horizon.