2021
Overview
Medicinal biochemistry is the branch of biochemistry concerned with applying the chemistry of living systems to the discovery, design, and development of medicines. It examines how drugs interact with biological molecules such as proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates, and how the structure and function of these molecules can be exploited or modified to treat disease. The field draws on knowledge of metabolic pathways, enzyme mechanisms, receptor binding, and molecular structure to explain how therapeutic agents work, to improve existing treatments, and to identify new drug targets and candidate compounds. It also connects to pharmacology, organic and analytical chemistry, and molecular biology, bridging laboratory investigation of biochemical processes with the practical goal of producing safe and effective pharmaceuticals. As a topic within the broad scope of biochemistry advances covered by the journal, medicinal biochemistry encompasses studies of enzyme activity and inhibition, the synthesis and characterization of bioactive compounds, and the molecular basis of drug action. This page situates the subject within the journal's coverage of biochemical research and its biomedical applications, and it gathers peer-reviewed, open-access work relevant to the chemistry underlying the development and improvement of medicines.
Research published in this journal
2 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
2021