Molecular pharmacology is a branch of pharmacology that studies pharmaceuticals and natural compounds used to treat disease on a molecular level. Molecular pharmacologists seek to understand how drugs work at the molecular level and develop new drugs to target diseases like infections and cancer. Their work involves studying how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance, how malignancies emerge, and the detailed molecular structures of drugs. Employment in this field generally requires a graduate degree with postdoctoral research experience in molecular pharmacology.

1. Molecular pharmacology:
Molecular pharmacology is a branch of the field
of pharmacology which is concerned with the study
of pharmacology on molecular basis. Molecular
pharmacologists study the molecular study of
pharmaceuticals and natural compounds used in the
treatment of disease, and they also study disease on
a molecular basis with the goal of developing
pharmacologically active agents which could be used
to address disease. Employment in this field is
generally limited to people who hold graduate degrees, often with postdoctoral
work in the field.
One of the most important aspects of molecular pharmacology understands how
drugs work on a molecular basis. For a patient who takes antibiotics for an
infection, the molecular explanation for the efficacy of the drugs might not
seem terribly important, as long as they work, but
for molecular pharmacologists, it's critical. A molecular pharmacologist can
find out how the drug attacks the bacteria causing the infection, how the
bacteria develops antibiotic resistance, and how a drug company might develop
a new antibiotic which targets an antibiotic-resistant bacteria on
the molecular level.
Molecular pharmacologists are also interested in molecular pathology, the study
of the process of disease on a molecular level. This is especially relevant with
malignancies which develop spontaneously, as an understanding of how much
malignancies emerge could be a key part to developing drugs which will target
these malignancies. Researchers in molecular pharmacology are also interested
in developing highly refined drugs which are capable of attacking a malignancy
and nothing else, thereby reducing side effects for the patient.
Understanding the molecular structure of drugs is also important. From the
point of view of pharmaceutical companies, knowing as much as possible about
their drugs is useful because it can help them protect patents, develop similar
drugs, organize drug families, and understand drug actions. For researchers,
knowing the molecular structure of a drug is important for many of the same
reasons. Researchers are also interested in developing methods for producing
consistent and reliable pharmaceuticals, which requires knowledge of the
detailed structures of the drugs they are working on.
Submitted By: Manish Kumar Mangalayatan University