Research in our laboratory has always been guided by the belief that it should be possible to explain living processes in chemical and physical terms. In other words, there is a molecular logic underlying the observed phenomena of cells and organisms, both normal and pathological. Two other important considerations have guided the directions in which research in my laboratory have proceeded: relevance of the problems to Thailand and advantage gained in pursuing the problems chosen. Two diseases found in Thailand were the foci of the previous TRF funded program (project no: RTA/02/1539) and still remain the topics for the current research program: malaria and thalassemia (a hereditary anemia). These two topics are not unrelated as it is believed (but still not definitively proven) that the existence of thalassemic genes in the human population at polymorphic frequencies (i.e. greater than 1%) is due to protection of heterozygotes against malaria conferred by these genes. The carrier frequency of thalassemia in the Thai population has been estimated to be between 30-40% (18-24 million), with about 500,000 individuals having the disease. On the other hand, although malaria no longer poses a life-threatening menace to the Thai population, the most virulent species, Plasmodium falciparum (accounting to about 50% of all malaria cases), is fast becoming resistant to almost all currently used antimalarial drugs, and thus has the potential to become an important cause for increase in mortality.