Dramatic advances in molecular genetics have ushered in a new era in biology in which the complete genetic blueprints of living organisms are available. Yet biologists still face the enormous challenge of relating one-dimensional DNA sequences to the three-dimensional protein architectures they encode and to the complex chemical and physical transformations that underlie living systems.

Biochemists, structural biologists and chemists at Rockefeller work toward a more complete understanding of the molecular basis of life. They identify molecules involved in key biological processes, determine their threedimensional structures, elucidate their cellular functions and synthesize molecules capable of modifying these functions.

Molecular researchers at Rockefeller employ the full range of modern tools, including x-ray crystallography, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, computer modeling and simulation and chemical synthesis, as well as the techniques of molecular biology and genetics.