The unprecedented advancements in genetics and cell biology that have marked the last decade have also paved the way for more fundamental branches of science that will provide the tools to explore the molecular basis of development and disease. As a consequence of these advances, scientists at UMMS are taking advantage of a unique opportunity to apply the tools and principles of chemistry to the exploration of living cells through the Program in Chemical Biology. Under the leadership of Tariq M. Rana, PhD, professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, the program employs the knowledge of chemistry to address the fundamental questions of biology. While the science of chemical biology is complex, the significance to biomedical research is more apparent. "Chemical biology provides us insight at the molecular level and helps us design drugs to cure the manifold problems that can arise from such anomalies in cellular function as the impairment of gene regulation, the inability to fix DNA damage, misfolding and aggregation of proteins or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes,” says Dr. Rana. “These and other problems in cellular functions could lead to cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, developmental abnormalities, neurological disorders and many other illnesses. You cannot think of understanding the molecular mechanism of a disease's cause and progression, or develop a cure without chemical biology."

In 2000, UMMS became one of just a handful of medical institutions in the country to develop a Program in Chemical Biology. Bolstered by a four-year, $1.6 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and galvanized by researchers Michael P. Czech, PhD, professor and chair of molecular medicine, and C. Robert Matthews, PhD, professor and chair of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, the program recruited Rana as its first director in 2001. According to Rana, UMMS' willingness to invest the resources to create such a program is evidence of its promising future. "The Medical School leadership is truly visionary. They recognize the opportunities and potential fruits of multidisciplinary investigations that integrate physical sciences, synthetic chemistry with life sciences such as molecular and cell biology."

Tariq Rana

• Ya-Lin Chiu and Tariq M. Rana.   "RNAi in Human Cells: Basic Structural and Functional Features of Small Interfering RNA."  Molecular Cell 10 (3) 549-561
• Ya-Lin Chiu , C. Kiong Ho, Nayanendu Saha, Beate Schwer, Stewart Shuman, and Tariq M. Rana."Tat Stimulates Cotranscriptional Capping of HIV mRNA." Molecular Cell, Sep 2002, 10 (3) 585-597