Molecular Cell Biology

Citation

Lodish, H., Berk, A., Kaiser, C. A., Krieger, M., Bretscher, A., Ploegh, H., Martin, K. C., Yaffe, M., & Amon, A. (2021). Molecular Cell Biology (9th ed.). Macmillan Learning (W. H. Freeman).

Chapter Summary

The book has twenty-five chapters. The publisher presents it as an authoritative resource for the cell biology course, written by a team of researchers and teachers, with an emphasis on the experimental techniques that drive advances in the biomedical sciences and with medically relevant examples where appropriate. The ninth edition adds Chapter 21, "Responding to the Cellular Environment", and a new co-author, Michael Yaffe. The publisher's contents list gives titles only, and chapter numbers below follow the order of that list (the publisher's sample chapter is Chapter 19, The Eukaryotic Cell Cycle).

Chapters 1–4: Molecules, Cells, and Model Organisms; Chemical Foundations; Protein Structure and Function; Culturing and Visualizing Cells

The opening chapters introduce molecules, cells and model organisms, the chemistry and the proteins on which the later chapters depend, and the methods used to culture and visualize cells.

Chapters 5–9: Fundamental Molecular Genetic Mechanisms; Molecular Genetic Techniques; Genes and Genomics; Transcriptional Control of Gene Expression; Post-Transcriptional Gene Control

Molecular genetics and gene expression: basic mechanisms, then the techniques of molecular genetics, genes and genomics, and the control of gene expression before and after transcription.

Chapters 10–14: Biomembrane Structure; Transmembrane Transport of Ions and Small Molecules; Cellular Energetics; Moving Proteins into Membranes and Organelles; Vesicular Traffic, Secretion, and Endocytosis

Membranes and the cell's internal organization: the structure of biomembranes, transport of ions and small molecules, energetics, the targeting of proteins to membranes and organelles, and vesicular traffic, secretion and endocytosis.

Chapters 15–16: Cell Signaling I; Growth Factor and Cytokine Signaling

Two chapters on signaling, the second devoted to growth factors and cytokines.

Chapters 17–19: Cell Organization and Movement I; Cell Organization and Movement II; The Eukaryotic Cell Cycle

Cell organization and movement is split across two chapters, followed by the eukaryotic cell cycle.

Chapters 20–22: Integrating Cells into Tissues; Responding to the Cellular Environment; Stem Cells, Cell Asymmetry, and Cell Death

Cells in tissues and how they respond to their surroundings, followed by stem cells, asymmetry and cell death. Chapter 21 is the chapter new to the ninth edition, which the publisher says reflects recent developments in cell signaling.

Chapters 23–25: Nerve Cells; Immunology; Cancer

The closing chapters apply the earlier material to the nervous system, the immune system and cancer.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–9: methods, genes and gene expression

• Model organisms and cell culture: introduced in Chapters 1 and 4.
• Molecular genetic techniques: Chapter 6, treated separately from the basic mechanisms of Chapter 5.
• Transcriptional and post-transcriptional control: Chapters 8 and 9.

Chapters 10–19: membranes, signaling and cell organization

• Biomembranes and transmembrane transport: Chapters 10 and 11.
• Vesicular traffic, secretion and endocytosis: Chapter 14.
• Growth factor and cytokine signaling: Chapter 16.
• The eukaryotic cell cycle: Chapter 19.

Chapters 20–25: tissues and systems

• Stem cells, cell asymmetry and cell death: Chapter 22.
• Nerve cells, immunology and cancer: Chapters 23–25.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Experimental emphasis. The publisher stresses the experimental techniques behind advances in the biomedical sciences, and the contents give methods their own chapters (Chapters 4 and 6) in addition to describing results.
• A research-active author team. The author biographies on the publisher page describe researchers who also teach, and the ninth edition adds Michael Yaffe, whom the publisher presents as a cancer specialist.
• Coverage through organ systems. After the cell-level chapters, the book closes with nerve cells, immunology and cancer, extending the cell and molecular view to systems.
• Problem-solving materials. The publisher lists case studies and Analyze the Data problems with real-world applications in the Achieve platform, along with adaptive quizzes and concept quizzes.

Limitations

• Level. The site lists a first-year biology course and introductory chemistry as preparation, and some organic chemistry or biochemistry helps; beginners will find it demanding.
• Online platform. Several of the features the publisher highlights (animations, in-class activities, quizzes, case studies) belong to the Achieve platform, so they are available only if the course or reader has access.
• Evidence limited to the publisher's page. The contents are given as titles only, so the depth of treatment within chapters is not shown in what is publicly available.

Where It Fits in the Course

Molecular Cell Biology is the upper-level cell and molecular text in the general biology list. Biology 2e, Concepts of Biology, Campbell Biology, Biological Science and Life: The Science of Biology are introductory texts across the whole of biology; Concepts of Biology is the lightest, written for non-majors. Cell Biology by the Numbers is a different kind of book, teaching cell biology through measured sizes, concentrations and rates.

Read it after an introductory course, when cell and molecular biology is the focus, and consult the introductory texts for evolution, organisms and ecology, which it does not cover.

How to Use This Book

It suits students who have finished a first-year biology course and want the cell and molecular material at research depth.

• Core: Chapters 2–3 and 5–9 for proteins, genes and expression; Chapters 10–14 for membranes and trafficking; Chapters 15–19 for signaling, cytoskeleton and the cell cycle.
• Methods: read Chapters 4 and 6 early, since later chapters refer to the techniques they describe.
• Applications: Chapters 23–25 can be taken in any order after the signaling and cell cycle chapters.
• Practice: use the case studies and data-analysis problems where available, and ask of each experiment what the result would have been if the model were wrong.