why medical research is so important
Molecular biology
Of all the areas of medical research that exist there are none that are as far reaching as molecular biology. This is a field that looks to understand the way that all life operates by studying it at the molecular level. Because of this it is relevant to virtually every branch of medicine. Even more importantly molecular biology is starting to be viewed as a way to cure illness in its own right.
Molecular biology research is devoted to the study of how the various systems of a cell interact with each other. Since all living things are made up of cells these interactions are the basis of life. Everything that our bodies do is the result of these interactions. That being the case it should be pretty obvious why molecular biology is an important area of study for medicine. Ultimately all medicine works by correcting problems at the cellular level. As a result microbiology largely underpins most of the other medical research that is being done.
Molecular biology is really about explaining how the body works on the large scale by looking at the small scale. By understanding how the cells that make up the body interact with each other it is possible to get a better understanding of the processes at the larger scale level. In a lot of ways this is similar to the way a chemist can explain how large objects behave by looking at the way that the molecules that make them up are structured and interact with each other. In the case of molecular biology however things are actually quite a bit simpler since there are fewer molecules that have to be dealt with.
These days a big part of the research that is being done in molecular biology is focused on the study of DNA. All living things are controlled by their DNA and researchers are trying to figure out how exactly this works. Clearly this is an important area for the study of medicine since if we can figure out how DNA works it will make it possible to cure virtually all genetic diseases. Obviously we are a long way from having this happen and much of the work is still at a pretty basic level but progress is being made.
For most of its history molecular biology has largely been a pure research field. That is the work that was done was used to explain things like why diseases occurred but the diseases themselves were cured at a more macroscopic level. This is starting to change with molecular medicine starting to become an accepted field. Molecular medicine is about trying to cure the diseases by intervening at the molecular level. This is still a new area so most of the work is still experimental but it has shown good progress so far.
