Molecular Nuclear medicine within the Medical Sciences Division has been on a progressive track of biotechnological advancement and modernization to evolve into a new molecular nuclear medicine program. As identification of genes and their products by structural biology (including genetic engineering) continues to permit the characterization of function of molecules regulating biochemical pathways and biochemistry in health and disease; nuclear medicine technology is exploited to study biochemical dysfunctions and the mechanisms of dysfunctions associated with pathological states.

The knowledge generated feeds into the development of new powerful radiotracer/ radiopharmaceutical tools and advanced medical imaging technologies for identification and detection of biochemical dysfunctions as early signs of disease (including cancer, brain diseases, and mental disorders), for molecular correction of biochemical defect and for the treatment of the disease and disorder.

Molecules are especially tailored for targeting the disease or a biochemical dysfunction, labeled with appropriate radioisotopes as radiotracers/radiopharmaceuticals to become measurable for clinical diagnosis, or effective therapeutically, when they interact with their targets in the body. These radiopharmaceuticals are in a way radiolabeled molecular "guided missiles" in the living body for targeting a disease.

The function of selected radiopharmaceuticals at various sites in the body is imaged by nuclear medical instruments, such as gamma-cameras and positron emission tomographs. This type of imaging refines diagnostic differentiation between various diseases, such as of the heart, brain, and in cancer, often leading to more effective therapy. If labeled with high energy-emitting radioisotopes, the molecular "guided missiles" such as monoclonal antibodies, may be powerful tools for targeted therapy especially of cancer.