[The molecular logic of life--a half century of development in biochemistry and molecular biology].

Tremendous progress has been made in biochemistry and molecular biology during the past fifty years which substantially changed our understanding of fundamental processes of life. The progress has been especially made in the field of molecular genetics, biomembranes, cell signaling and bioenergetics. Based on the analysis of the genetic information and human genome organization and function, our understanding of health and disease is rapidly changing: the era of Molecular Medicine has emerged. The discoveries in biochemistry and molecular biology are beginning to migrate from the research laboratories into clinical practice introducing fundamentally new methods in diagnostics and therapy.