Medical biology is a theoretical field that is based on general biology and whose content is cellular and molecular biology and genetics with a special focus on aspects that are important in human medicine. The content of this field is very broad and includes topics such as the chemical nature of life, the functional anatomy of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, the biology of viruses or basic cellular processes at the molecular level. This includes biological processes and topics such as DNA replication, DNA damage and repair mechanisms, gene expression and regulation of gene expression, intercellular communication, cell differentiation, cell division, cell death, the principle of tissue organization of cells, fundamentals of genetics, the nature of genetic diseases, epigenetics, immunogenetics, stem cell biology, ontogenesis, tumor biology, but also selected applications of biological principles in medicine such as gene therapy or tissue engineering. Of course, this overview is not exhaustive and may include a number of other areas.

In understanding human health and disease, in modern medicine we have moved from the organ, tissue and microscopic level to the cellular and molecular level. Also, the mechanism of drug action is not based on the interaction of the drug with the tissue or organ, but on the interaction with the molecular target structure. Therefore, without knowledge of medical biology, it is impossible to understand neither the pathophysiology of diseases nor the principles of their treatment. As part of the study of general medicine, knowledge of medical biology is then a cornerstone necessary for understanding related subjects such as biochemistry, physiology, pathophysiology, pathology and pharmacology, which together with medical biology, anatomy and histology form the theoretical foundations of medicine. In addition, medical biology represents a theoretical knowledge base enabling the application of knowledge and methods of molecular biology and genetics to clinical medicine. Today, we can hardly find a field of medicine that does not use the knowledge or methods of medical biology. Starting with medical genetics covering all medical fields, through reproductive medicine, microbiology, immunology, oncology, medicine for rare diseases, or medicinal preparations of modern therapies to forensic medicine. The field focused on the application of knowledge and methods of medical biology to clinical medicine is referred to as molecular medicine.