The Cell  (English, Hardcover, Cooper Geoffrey M.)

Cell: A Molecular Approach thoroughly covers the fundamentals of this subject as well as a large number of new developments in the field. It has been designed for undergraduate students.

Summary Of The Book

Cell: A Molecular Approach, published in the year 2009, is now in its fifth edition. It covers the theory as well as advancements that have taken place in this field. Aimed at undergraduate students, this is the equivalent of a one-semester course.

The textbook is filled with important concepts, terminology, and processes. It has maintained its overall format from the previous edition, but includes updates on understanding gene regulation by microRNAs, how protein imports mitochondria, and how human disease susceptibility genes can be identified through genome-wide association scans.

The first chapter of Cell: A Molecular Approach is titled An Overview Of Cell And Cell Research and it covers topics like the origin and evolution of cells, and tools of cell biology. This is followed by The Composition Of Cells, and then Cell Metabolism. The chapter Fundamentals Of Molecular Biology comprehensively looks into genetics. This edition has new experiments based on RNA interference. The Organization And Sequences Of Cellular Genomes has sections on the complexity of eukaryotic genomes, and chromosomes and chromatin. Then comes Replication, Maintenance, And Rearrangement Of Genomic DNA. This is followed by RNA and Protein Synthesis And Processing.

The next chapters are The Nucleus, Protein Sorting And Transport, and Bioenergetics. Cytoskeleton and Cell Movement explains actin filaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules. The authors then describe the plasma membrane and moves on to Cell Walls, Extracellular Matrix and Cell Interactions. Cell Signalling has new experiments related to odour detection and G Protein-Coupled Receptors. Cell Cycles, Cell Death, and Cell Renewal are also discussed.

The last chapter of Cell: A Molecular Approach is about cancer. It speaks about the development and causes of cancer, tumour suppressor genes, and molecular approaches to cancer treatment.

This edition of Cell: A Molecular Approach has sidebars along the chapter content to shed light on important topics. Each chapter ends with a range of questions, whose solutions can be found at the back of the book.

About The Authors

Geoffrey M. Cooper did his Ph.D. from the University of Miami and is now the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences as well as a Biology professor at Boston University.  

He has written Oncogenes and The Cancer Book. He has many books to his name.  

Cooper’s research interests lie in programmed cell death, gene expression, cancer, and signal transduction. At present he is working on the mechanism by which the MEK/ERK pathway acts to induce neuronal differentiation. He teaches Cell Biology and Honors Cell Biology.

Robert E. Hausman obtained his Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Hausman focuses on cell adhesion complexes, cell-cell interactions, and contact-mediated regulation of gene expression. He is currently working on proteins which make up the adhesion-signaling complexes on the surface of cells. He is a Professor of Biology at Boston University, and teaches the courses Cell Biology, and Biochemical and Molecular Aspects of Development.