by Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts and Peter Walter

1268 pp (plus 40 p glossary and 49 p index), Garland Science, Taylor & Francis Group, 2008, USA, ISBN 978-0-8153-4106-2, (pbk), $58.99

The appearances of new editions of Molecular Biology of the Cell are major events in the educational world of cell biology. Indeed, in biology in general, since all biologists should appreciate the central role of the subject area to their disciplines. The fifth edition includes new material on many topics, ranging from epigenetics, histone modifications, small RNAs, comparative genomics, genetic noise, cytoskeletal dynamics, cell cycle control, apoptosis, and stem cells to novel cancer therapies. It is packed in to 25 chapters. All the chapters are structured in the style familiar to readers of previous editions. The authors suggest in the Preface that Chapters 1 to 20, which are printed pages, cover the core of the usual cell biology curricula. Chapters 21-25 are presented in an electronic format (see below); their emphasis is on multicellular systems.

The major portion of the book is divided in to five parts. Part I, Introduction to the cell, comprises the first three chapters: Cells and genomes; Cell chemistry and biosynthesis and Proteins. Basic genetic mechanisms are described in Part II, which has four chapters. These cover topics from DNA and chromosomes to the control of gene expression. Part III (Methods) has two chapters devoted to methods for isolating and culturing cells, studying molecules and visualizing cells. Chapters 10 to 18 form Part IV, Internal organization of the cell, and constitute the meat of the book. These chapters address the structures and functions of membranes, the structures and activities of organelle, cell signalling mechanisms, the eukaryotic cytoskeleton, cell cycles and ends with apoptosis. Chapters 19-25 form Part V, Cells in their social context. It has two paper chapters: one covers cellular junctions and the extracellular matrix and plant cell walls, the other cancer; although cancerous cell could, perhaps, be better described as unsociable cells. The last five chapters cover sexual reproduction, metazoan and plant development, animal tissues and, finally, pathogens and the immune system.

Throughout the text, the emphasis is firmly on the eukaryotic cell but prokaryotes are not neglected. Also, as in previous editions, the authors have tried to give readers a conceptual framework for the mass of information now known about the cell.

This new, fifth, edition has the basic morphology established in the first of 1983 and follows the evolutionary trends set in subsequent ones. Thus for example, as with all the previous editions, the authors have updated and completely re-written the material. They have also integrated comparatively large amounts of new material on such contemporary topics as epigenetics, stem cells and RNAi. However, this edition does display some evidence of punctuated equilibrium rather than progressive Darwinian modifications. Apoptosis has now been given its own chapter but, in contrast, the control of the cell cycle and the mechanics of its M phase have been integrated in to a single one. For the first time, each chapter ends with a series of questions (written by John Wilson and Tim Hunt). The questions are varied in type and range from the relatively simple up to the quite demanding. Annoyingly, the answers to these problems are not in this book but provided in the companion volume, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Fifth Edition: The Problems Book (ISBN 978-0-8153-4110-9), which also has additional problems and solutions. Given the cost of Alberts et al., it should not be it is necessary to spend an additional £21.99 in the UK to check ones answers. The questions do, however, remind the readers how much we have to learn. The greatest change from previous editions is that although the material still occupies 25 chapters, the last five of them are presented in an electronic (PDF) form contained in the accompanying DVD. This is described as ‘free’ in the publisher’s flier! This, to us, somewhat strange mutation left us feeling rather bemused with recollections of Lee Adams’ lyrics for the Superman musical: it’s a book, it’s a DVD… Presumably the argument was that present day students (and staff) always have a computer with or near them, especially since Molecular Biology of the Cell has never been a textbook designed for carrying around. Perhaps a simpler way to have reduced its size would have been to axe some of the earlier chapters. Molecular Biology of the Cell is an advanced text, certainly not for new and junior undergraduates, and this relatively basic material is unnecessary for most of its readers. Alternatively, the text could have been produced in two separate volumes. If the DVD route had to be followed, then why not go the whole mile and give the purchaser the choice of either a full paper text or the complete works on disc, as, for example in the beautiful Metzler books (Metzler, 2003)? The DVD does have the advantage of reducing the chapters to 1269 pages compared to the 1463 of the fourth edition. More usefully, the DVD provides films and animations of dynamic cellular processes, together with all the figures and tables in PowerPoint format. The DVD worked perfectly on a Macintosh computer but we found the animations (which require QuickTime) on the DVDs sent with our books rather patchy when used on PCs. We understand from the publisher this is because the latest version of QuickTime no longer supports Flash. The animations have been reformatted so they will play in QuickTime and can be found at
http://www.garlandscience.co.uk/textbooks/0815341059.asp?type=resources

The other materials were readily accessible on a number of different PCs.

Despite the quibbles above, this is a marvellous textbook. Once again, the authors are to be congratulated on a superb achievement. We are amazed at the scope and depth of information provided. The authors must have seen little of their families and friends during its writing.

Reviewed by Qiuyu Wang and Chris Smith

School of Biology, Chemistry and Health Science,
Manchester Metropolitan University,
Manchester, M1 5GD,
United Kingdom.
q.wang@mmu.ac.uk
c.a.smith@mmu.ac.uk

Reference

Metzler, D. E. (2001, 2003) Biochemistry: The Chemical Reactions of Living Cells, 2nd Edition Two volume set. Academic Press: San Diego, USA. (Vols 1 and 2 on CD Rom, 2003.)