Molecular biology ( /məˈlɛkjʊlər/) is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between the different types of DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis as well as learning how these interactions are regulated.

Writing in Nature in 1961, William Astbury described molecular biology as

Researchers in molecular biology use specific techniques native to molecular biology but increasingly combine these with techniques and ideas from genetics and biochemistry. There is not a defined line between these disciplines. The figure above is a schematic that depicts one possible view of the relationship between the fields:

Much of the work in molecular biology is quantitative, and recently much work has been done at the interface of molecular biology and computer science in bioinformatics and computational biology. As of the early 2000s, the study of gene structure and function, molecular genetics, has been among the most prominent sub-field of molecular biology.

Drew Berry (born 1970 in USA) is a biomedical animator at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia. His scientifically accurate and aesthetically rich visualizations are elucidating cellular and molecular processes for a wide range of audiences. His animations have been shown in exhibitions, multimedia programs and television shows, and have received international recognition including an Emmy (2005) and a BAFTA Award (2004).

Berry received a Bachelor of Science (1993) and Master of Science (1995) degrees from the University of Melbourne, and received training in cell biology as well as in light microscopy and electron microscopy.

Since 1995, Berry has been a biomedical animator at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. His 3D and 4D animations have focussed on explaining cellular and molecular processes relevant to research conducted at the institute, in fields including molecular biology, malaria, cell death, cancer biology, hematology and immunology.

Bonnie Lynn Bassler (born 1962) is an American molecular biologist. She has been a professor at Princeton University since 1994.

Born in Chicago and raised in Danville, California, Bassler received a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University. She made key insights into the mechanism by which bacteria communicate, known as quorum sensing. In 2002 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. Bassler was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007.

Bassler has been nominated by the American Society for Microbiology to be one of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's Nifty Fifty Speakers who will speak about her work and career to middle and high school students in October 2010. Bonnie Bassler is a member of the USA Science & Engineering Festival's Nifty Fifty, a collection of the most influential scientists and engineers in the United States that are dedicated to reinvigorating the interest of young people in science and engineering.