Thesis advisor: Udayan Mohanty / Computational research can play a crucial component in the discovery of unique biochemical phenomena, from answering fundamental questions about molecular function and structure to the modeling of designed pharmaceuticals to cure many debilitating illnesses. Here computational methods are employed to examine the exquisite role that magnesium ions play in stabilizing ribosomal subunits responsible for protein translation and to analyze the potential of a proposed anticancer drug for a pathway that is impaired in the majority of human cancer cases. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Chemistry.