The Biochemistry Division is the home of UCLA's Graduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The division's outstanding faculty carry out research in some of the most exciting areas of contemporary molecular life science. These include protein and nucleic acid structure and function, bioinformatics, the regulation of gene expression, protein sorting, cell motility and contraction, photosynthesis, embryogenesis, biological catalysis and the biochemical basis of disease. The Biochemistry Division is an essential component of UCLA's large and vibrant molecular life sciences research community, which includes the DOE Laboratory of Structural Biology and Molecular Medicine and the UCLA School of Medicine. All of the department's biochemists are members of UCLA's interdepartmental Molecular Biology Institute. This close-knit scientific community makes UCLA a superb environment in which to study and carry out research in biochemistry and molecular biology.

As part of an effort to elucidate the molecular mechanism of electron transport in photosynthesis, the Yeates laboratory has determined the atomic resolution crystal structure of cytochrome c6.

The Valentine laboratory combines the approaches of biochemistry, molecular biology and inorganic chemistry to study the roles of metal ions in cell physiology. This shematic diagram of a yeast cell illustrates pathways of metal ion uptake, inter-organelle transport and utilization. Image by E. Gralla.