Molecular Biology

Molecular biology 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

not so much a technique as an approach, an approach from the viewpoint of the so-called basic sciences with the leading idea of searching below the large-scale manifestations of classical biology for the corresponding molecular plan. It is concerned particularly with the forms of biological molecules and [...] is predominantly three-dimensional and structural—which does not mean, however, that it is merely a refinement of morphology. It must at the same time inquire into genesis and function.
wikipedia introduction

The following list borrowed from "What is Molecular Biology?" page gives us laymen some idea of the kind of research that is currently going on in the field:

Recent Molecular Biology News

• Woman's ovarian cycle plays an important role in her susceptibility to infectionA new research report in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that a woman's ovarian cycle plays an important role in her susceptibility to infection.
• ASBMB names Yale scientist as winner of inaugural Alice and C.C. Wang awardThe American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has named Elisabetta Ullu, professor of internal medicine and cell biology at the Yale University School of Medicine, the winner of the soci...
• Researchers decode and characterize DNA repair mechanismOxidative stress is the cause of many serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis and diabetes. It occurs when the body is exposed to excessive amounts of electrically charged, aggr...
• AAA announces recipients of Young Investigator AwardsThe American Association of Anatomist's (AAA) Young Investigator Awards combine three long-standing AAA awards-Bensley, Herrick, and Mossman-with the recently established Morphological Sciences Award,...
• Biologists develop radar to track ADAR's RNA editing activity in neuronsTo track what they can't see, pilots look to the green glow of the radar screen. Now biologists monitoring gene expression, individual variation, and disease have a glowing green indicator of their ow...