Chemical biology is a scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry, biology, and physics. It involves the application of chemical techniques, tools, and analyses, and often compounds produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and manipulation of biological systems. Chemical biologists attempt to use chemical principles to modulate systems to either investigate the underlying biology or create new function. Research done by chemical biologists is often closer related to that of cell biology than biochemistry. Biochemists study the chemistry of biomolecules and regulation of biochemical pathways within cells and tissues, e.g. cAMP or cGMP, while chemical biologists deal with novel chemical compounds applied to biology.