Berg has said, "At the time, our goal was to focus on the molecular and genetic basis of disease as the starting point for new forms of medicine... We wanted to improve the process by which studies at the most fundamental level could be translated into medical practice.

[8] Paul Berg obtained the support of philanthropists Arnold O. Beckman (1900-2004) and his wife Mabel (1900-1989), which was critical to establishing the center.

Biochemist James Spudich and Nobel-winning physicist Steven Chu collaborated on research to target single atoms and measure molecular force and later launched the interdisciplinary Stanford University Bio-X Initiative.

[7] Scientists have developed and explored a variety of scientific models, from Lucy Shapiro's single-celled Caulobacter crescentus to the three-spined stickleback and the zebrafish.

Roel Nusse has explored the Wnt signaling pathway in mice and fruit flies, and linked it to cancer and diabetes.

Thomas C. Südhof was a co-recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering how vesicles release their contents when nerve cells communicate with one another in the brain.

[7] At a 25th anniversary symposium, entitled "Innovation in the Biosphere", speakers spoke of the importance of the center's collaborative multidisciplinary environment.

The bedrock of what it means to be a living entity is an understanding of how a cell or tissue functions as an integrated system.The Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine has included at least two Nobel laureates and 12 members of the National Academy of Sciences among its faculty.