Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th Edition

Abstract

Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th Edition Authors: Bruce Alberts, PhD; Alexander Johnson, PhD; Julian Lewis, Dphil; Martin Raff, MD; Keith Roberts, PhD; Peter Walter, PhD Bibliographic Data: Taylor & Francis Inc., 2002. Imprint: Garland Publishing, Inc. ISBN: 0-8153-3218-1, 1463 pp, hard cover, $102.00. Reviewer's Expert Opinion: Description: This is the fourth edition of one of the major textbooks in modern cell and molecular biology. The previous edition was published in 1994. Purpose: The book is intended to be a comprehensive, authoritative source of information about modern plant and animal cell and molecular biology. Given the interest in and importance of these aspects of modern science, this is an important textbook and fully attains the authors' objectives. Audience: The authors state that the book is intended for advanced undergraduates who are taking a cell and molecular biology course as well as established scientists who may want a current source of information about areas outside their own expertise. The authors comment that groups of chapters, or even individual chapters, could be used as standalone resources in a variety of advanced topics courses. The six major authors of the book as well as the many authors of individual chapters are acknowledged authorities in their respective fields. The book was written by dozens of knowledgeable individuals and reviewed by hundreds of others, including many students. Features: The book has chapters on essentially all the important areas of research and interest in cell and molecular biology—the genome, molecular biology, plasma membranes, signal transduction, the cytoskeleton, cell division, development and differentiation, stem cells, cancer, and more. A CD-ROM is included that contains many fascinating examples of cell behavior, e.g., video clips and animations. The book is extremely well written; most chapters begin with thought-provoking general comments about cells and how their behavior and/or activities are relevant to the contents of that particular chapter. The hundreds of schematic/explanatory diagrams and light and electron micrographs and the way they are integrated into the text are superb. Subsections within chapters have headings that clearly indicate the content that follows. Groups of subsections are summarized several times in each chapter to facilitate learning. If there are any shortcomings in this book, it is the effort to be too comprehensive by including sections on cancer, the adaptive immune system, and histology; these are entire disciplines in themselves, and, although what this book includes is good, these chapters are too brief and selective to be as authoritative as most of the rest of the book. Assessment: This is one of the two standard textbooks of cell and molecular biology; the other is Molecular Cell Biology, by Lodish, et al. (W. H. Freeman, 2000). This 4th edition will be warmly welcomed by college and university teachers, researchers, and students alike. It maintains and improves upon the quality and excellence of previous editions.