Brief Introduction of Department of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology

The interweaving of the historical traditions of biochemistry, cell biology and genetics, as well as the explosive developments in molecular biology in the past few decades, have opened up vast new frontiers of research in biological and medical sciences. A basic understanding of biochemistry and molecular biology has become a must for scientists actively engaged in biological and medical research. To provide adequate education in these disciplines and to meet the increasing demand of scientists that seek to understand the structure, organization and function of living matter in molecular terms, the Department of Biochemistry and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology were established in 1987. These two departments were integrated as Department of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology in 1993. Our goals are: (1) To provide an adequate and balanced training program as well as an inductive environment for the nurturing of graduate students and medical students; (2) To pursue excellence in research and to explore new knowledge in biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology; and (3) To promote interdisciplinary interactions among basic, applied and clinical sciences.

Faculty

As of May, 2016, there are 13 full-time faculty members in this department specializing in different areas of biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology. Specific research projects that are being conducted in the different labs include: Role of thyroid hormone receptor in the gene regulation (Dr. Kwang-Huei Lin); Mechanism of anticancer resistance and role of GAS genes in cell differentiation (Dr. Chuck C.-K. Chao); Regulation of telomerase expression in human cells (Dr. Tzu-Chien V. Wang); Antiviral development and mechanistic study of enterovirus 71 and influenza virus (Dr. Jim-Tong Horng); Role of PAK in apoptosis and proteomics of cancers (Dr. Jau-Song Yu); Biogenesis of synaptic vesicle (Dr. Jim-Tong Horng); Regulation of EGF signaling in development and Functional analysis of human genes in Drosophila (Dr. Li-Mei Pai); Proteomics (Dr. Ku-Yi Chien); Neurodevelopment in Zebra fish (Dr. Yi-Chuan Cheng); Applications of proteomics in biomarker discovery (Dr. Chia-Jung Yu); Autophagy (Dr. Po-Yuan Ke); Learning and Memory in Drosophila (Dr. Chia-Lin Wu) and Application of NGS (next generation sequencing) platforms in Cancer transcriptomics (Dr. Hsuan Liu).

Teaching and Graduate training

This department offers Biochemistry and Biochemistry Laboratory courses for undergraduates. This department also provides a graduate training program for the Graduates Institutes of Biomedical Sciences. This training program consists of a core curriculum (Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cellular Biology) and many elective courses that are designed to provide students with a coherent understanding of these basic knowledge as well as the experimental approaches that are commonly used in the molecular studies. Training in research emphasizes on self-directed problem identification and solving. Seminars and thesis are required for all students as part of their training. Exposure to broad biomedical disciplines and ability to conduct independent research are prerequisite for Ph.D. candidates. It is anticipated that students trained through our program will be highly competent of conducting independent biomedical research.

Aims and outlooks

While the short-term aim of this program is to train competent biomedical researchers that are urgently needed for the development of biotechnology in Taiwan for the 21st century, our long-term aims are to pursue excellence in research and to explore new knowledge in molecular and cellular biology of development (neuron and embryo) and diseases (cancers and viral infections). With the completion of human genome projects, major challenges lie ahead for unraveling the biology of immense sequence data. The budding of new technologies, such as DNA Microarrays, Bioinformatics, Proteomics, NGS, and animal models will undoubtedly become new and powerful tools for analyzing the regulation and function of genes in the future. We anticipate participating in the development of these new technologies and are incorporating these technologies in our training program.