Scientists & Research

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 and isolate molecules and molecular assemblies involved in key biological processes, determine their three-dimensional 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.