''Molecular Biology of the Cell'' is a
cellular
Cellular may refer to:
*Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics
* Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more
* ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie
*Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands
*Cell ...
and
molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...
textbook published by
W.W. Norton & Co and currently authored by
Bruce Alberts
Bruce Michael Alberts (born April 14, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American biochemist and the Chancellor’s Leadership Chair in Biochemistry and Biophysics for Science and Education, Emeritus at the University of California, San Francis ...
, Alexander D. Johnson,
Julian Lewis
Julian Murray Lewis (born 26 September 1951) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP), representing New Forest East since 1997. Lewis has served as Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee s ...
, David Morgan,
Martin Raff
Martin Charles Raff (born 15 January 1938) is a Canadian/British biologist and researcher who is an Emeritus Professor at the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMCB) at University College London (UCL).
His research has been in immunolog ...
, Keith Roberts and
Peter Walter
Peter Walter (born December 5, 1954) is a German-American molecular biologist and biochemist and is Director of the Bay Area Institute of Science at Altos Labs, Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He was a Howard H ...
. The book was first published in 1983 by
Garland Science
Garland Science was a publishing group that specialized in developing textbooks in a wide range of life sciences subjects, including cell biology, cell and molecular biology, immunology, protein chemistry, genetics, and bioinformatics. It was a su ...
and is now in its seventh edition. The molecular biologist
James Watson contributed to the first three editions.
''Molecular Biology of the Cell'' is widely used in introductory courses at the university level, being considered as a reference in many libraries and laboratories around the world. It describes the current understanding of
cell biology
Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...
and includes basic
biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
, experimental methods for investigating cells, the properties common to most
eukaryotic
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...
cells, the expression and transmission of genetic information, the internal organization of cells, and the behaviour of cells in multicellular organisms. ''Molecular Biology of the Cell'' has been described as “the most influential cell biology textbook of its time”. The sixth edition is dedicated to the memory of co-author Julian Lewis who died in early 2014.
The book was the first to position cell biology as a central discipline for biology and medicine, and immediately became a landmark textbook.
It was written in intense collaborative sessions in which the authors lived together over periods of time,
organized by editor
Miranda Robertson, then Biology Editor of ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
''.
References
External links
Official webpage7th edition
{{Portal bar, Books, Biology
1983 non-fiction books
American non-fiction books
English-language books
Biology textbooks
Cell biology
Molecular biology
Collaborative non-fiction books