The Institute of Molecular Biosciences (MB) was established in 2009 as a research institute under the new organizational structure of Mahidol University with missions of promoting research excellence and training in Molecular Biosciences. The institute is founded by a merging between the previous two sister institutes:  Institute of Science and Technology for Research and Development and Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, which are renowned research institutes of Mahidol University dedicated to the advancement of science and technology and their applications in medical and non-medical fields.

          The goal of MB is to produce knowledge, innovations and scientific personnel to be used for the betterment of health and economy of the region. Research areas of MB focus on important human diseases and improvement of major agricultural and bio-products of the region. Along with these research activities, MB provides postgraduate education through international M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs in Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, and in Neuroscience.

Research areas:

Currently the Institute accommodates research centers and research groups in various biomedical and biotechnology fields, such as:

 Biomedical Research

	Thalassemia is an important genetic disease causing chronic anemia. The research group has participated in discovery of genetic defects and implementation of diagnostic and screening tests for the disease. The current research interest is to identify severity-modifying genetic markers in order to predict disease severity and to better understand the pathogenesis. Another area of research is to find new therapeutic approaches for this disease.
	Dengue vaccine development: the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) at MB was the pioneer in developing live-attenuated dengue vaccine. The development was initiated by the late professor Natth Bhamarapravati. The project has led to clinical trials and further development of subsequent generations of vaccine candidates. The CVD is now working on a new version of vaccine candidates with very encouraging preclinical data.
	Neuroscience: the Neuro-Behavioral Biology Center is the leading neuroscience research center in Thailand with a close collaboration with the Center for Neuroscience of the Faculty of Science. Research areas of the center include neurobiology of addiction; neurodegenerative disorders, neuroprotection and prevention; learning, memory and cognition; neuro-psychiatric disorders; and role of pineal and melatonin related to neurophysiological functions.
	Structural biology of bacterial toxins is a major area of research, initially developed on the structure and mechanism of Bacillus thuringiensis toxin, a larvicidal toxin, which can be used to kill mosquito larvae as a biological control. The group is now moving toward other pore-forming bacterial toxins, such as pertussis toxin.
	Dengue molecular biology: the research team is a leading group in identifying viral receptors, especially those on mosquito cells. Other research areas include role of autophagy in the viral replication, pathways of viral entry and replication in human hepatocytes.
	Stem cell: the research emphasizes on application of adult stem cells as a therapeutic strategy for various degenerative diseases.

 Biotechnology

	Shrimp biotechnology: as Thailand is the top shrimp producer and exporter, shrimp aquaculture is important for the economy of the country. Advanced biotechnology, especially RNA technology is being applied for improvement of disease prevention and reproduction in farmed shrimp.
	Reproductive biology: biotechnology, such as sperm preservation, in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, nuclear transfer and cloning are being applied for improvement of livestock production.
	Plant biotechnology: genomic markers of cassava are used for strain selection and improvement. Production of recombinant protein in plant is also being developed.