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Book reviews Molecular Cell Biology (4th edition) Harvey Lodish, Arnold Berk, S. Lawrence Zipursky, Paul Matsudaira, David Baltimore and James Darnell; Freeman & Co., New York, NY, 2000, 1084 pp., list price $102.25, ISBN 0-7167-3136-3 Cell biology distinguishes itself from biochemistry and molecular biology in its approach, relating molecular structure and biochemical mechanisms to largerscale cellular processes. Cell biologists have the challenging task of merging reductionist experimental science with a systems approach to understanding cellular processes that cannot otherwise be understood. In the minds of many traditional biochemists and molecular biologists, cell biology is still considered a purely descriptive science. Yet, cell biologists have approached important problems in cell biology in a much more quantitative manner than their molecular biology colleagues. Cell motility and mitosis cannot be appreciated as an algorithm of interacting proteins. These processes can only be understood by the quantitative features of polymer assembly-disassembly and binding interactions with other cellular structures. Ironically, the microscope, regarded largely as a descriptive tool, has been a key resource in developing this new quantitative approach to cell biology. Indeed, cell biology remains a wonderfully visual science, as anyone who has looked in its leading journals in the last decade or so will know. While genomics and proteomics dominate the headlines, cell biology has quietly emerged as perhaps the avant garde subcellular biology in the last decade. None of the cell biology textbooks discussed below really convey the bold new direction in which cell biology has embarked. Nonetheless, if I could only have one cell biology text on my bookshelf, I would choose Molecular Cell Biology by Lodish, Berk, Zipursky, Matsudaira, Baltimore, and Darnell. In this review, I will compare features of Molecular Cell Biology by Lodish et al. with the major cell biology texts that are currently available, and review specific features of this excellent text. There are five major cell biology texts of which I am aware: World of the Cell by Becker, Hardin, and Kleinsmith (fourth edition); The Cell by Geoffrey Cooper (second edition); Cell and Molecular Biology by Karp (second edition); Molecular Biology of the Cell by Alberts, Bray, Raff, Roberts, and Watson (third edition); and Molecular Cell Biology (fourth edition). These five major texts can be grouped
into two categories: (1) modest-sized texts that focus on the central well-established ideas in cell biology with a modest amount of ancillary material; and (2) large, encyclopedic texts that present not only the basic ideas of cell biology but also a wealth of detailed information. These larger texts also come with more ancillary materials, especially Molecular Biology of the Cell. Molecular Cell Biology, in its fourth edition, at 1084 pages is nearly 300 pages shorter than its predecessor. This is largely due to smaller print and smaller figures, which in no way diminish the readability of the text. Molecular Cell Biology stands out as a text directed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. In contrast, the other texts can easily serve as introductory texts for a much broader range of undergraduates. So, which text does one use to teach cell biology? This depends on how one intends to use a textbook. For most students, the more detail there is in a text, the more difficult it is to read it for understanding. Hence, if one relies on the text to serve as a major teaching tool in developing understanding, then the texts by Becker et al., Cooper, and Karp are probably better. These are all fine books, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, if one wants the text to serve primarily as a resource and is confident that the students can handle a large volume of factual information, then the texts by Alberts et al. or Lodish et al. are definitely the way to go. Of these two texts, Molecular Biology of the Cell (Alberts et al.) reaches an undergraduate audience more effectively in its writing style and sophistication of presentation. Often, Molecular Cell Biology reads more like a review article than a text designed for undergraduates. Both Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Biology of the Cell use assertive statement headings; however, Molecular Biology of the Cell uses the headings to break up the text into relatively small segments. Molecular Biology of the Cell provides review references as superscripts to each subheading; whereas, Molecular Cell Biology places the citation of review references at the end of each chapter. Citations in both books focus largely on review articles. One requirement of a resource text is an exhaustive index, and both texts have satisfying indices. Visually, I prefer the figures in Molecular Cell Biology to those in the other cell biology texts; they have the clarity one expects from Freeman & Co. A nice feature in Molecular Cell Biology is the MCAT–GRE style questions at the end of each chapter,
Book reviews / Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education 29 (2001) 126–133
in which the student is asked to go back and read a section of the text and answer several questions related to the passage. Many of these are quite good, and useful to students. The end of the chapter also includes more traditional review questions, as does the student companion volume discussed below. Molecular Cell Biology has brief sections on applications of new findings in cell biology to medicine, biotechnology, and plant biology, which are features found in many recent biochemistry texts and in the Becker, Cooper, and Karp cell biology texts. These sections are marked by icons, and are generally quite short. I wish that these sections were a bit more elaborate, similar to what is found in the Becker, Cooper, and Karp texts, wherein key citations of the literature are included and discussed. The authors of Molecular Cell Biology end each chapter with two sections ‘‘Perspectives in the Literature’’ and ‘‘Perspectives for the Future’’. I think ‘‘Perspectives in the Literature’’ is inspired pedagogy. Here, students are directed to answer important biological questions as they read a small collection of primary research papers. On the other hand, the ‘‘Perspectives for the Future’’ is largely uninspiring. The authors’ comments do not really look far into the future but merely suggest directions similar to those I have seen in the NewYork Times. To give one example, the authors ignore important work in the integration of the three major cytoskeletal systems in generating and maintaining cell structure, force-generation, and cell signaling in the appropriate chapters. This emerging synthesis is already generating bold new perspectives into the nature of cell signaling, cell movement, and metabolic regulation. In any case, I expected a bolder, far-reaching approach from such prominent scientists. Molecular Cell Biology has several key ancillary materials. The CD-ROM is nice and has a unique feature in the presentation of classic experiments; unfortunately, only eleven are presented. However, I expect more to become available at the text’s web site. The animations in the CD-ROM are good but still rather rudimentary. I think more robust animations of processes such as the formation of transcriptional initiation complexes, cell signaling, and cytoskeletal dynamics are now possible and should be what one encounters in these supplements. Further, I think it is time to see more interactive self-testing and problem solving in these supplements. The simple multiple-choice problems that one finds here are fine but rather pedestrian. The ‘‘Interactive Macromolecular Tutorials’’ by David Marcey for Molecular Cell Biology are based on Chime computer technology. They are nicely done and informative; however, they are hardly what I would call a genuine tutorial, in the sense that the students are guided through a set of exercises to develop a concept. On the other hand, the inclusion of PDF files of primary
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research papers (relevant to the ‘‘Perspectives in the Literature’’) is to be commended. The inclusion of even more electronic versions of key and classic papers would make this CD-ROM an invaluable resource to students and instructors, provided copyright issues can be handled economically. The web-based resource for Molecular Cell Biology by Michael Klymkowsky is an excellent resource for students and instructors. The resource contains sections called ‘‘Working with the Literature,’’ ‘‘Web Links,’’ ‘‘Immunology,’’ ‘‘Macromolecular Tutorial,’’ ‘‘Animations,’’ ‘‘Videos,’’ ‘‘Classic Experiments,’’ and ‘‘Online MCAT Prep Exam.’’ Some of these links are redundant with the accompanying CD-ROM, but the site does go beyond what is available in the CD-ROM. With computer hook-ups in the classroom, an instructor can take full advantage of the numerous animations and videos to highlight a lecture. Many cell biology instructors teach cell biology as an experimental science, meaning that there is a central focus on the presentation and interpretation of experiments. None of these five textbooks have this as a central focus, despite the claim made by Lodish et al. in the Preface of Molecular Cell Biology. However, both Molecular Biology of the Cell and Molecular Cell Biology have problem books available as separate ancillary texts. Both problem books, The Problems Book by Wilson & Hunt and Working with Molecular Cell Biology: A Student Companion by Brian Storrie, Muriel Lederman, Eric A. Wong, Richard A. Walker, and Glenda Gillaspy, respectively, are excellent. Ironically, the Molecular Cell Biology student companion is better suited to undergraduates than the problem book that accompanies Molecular Biology of the Cell. Both of these books contain a marvelous collection of experiments, wherein the students are asked to interpret data and/or suggest new experiments. While the Molecular Cell Biology student companion does have some review material, both of these problem books are stand-alone volumes that should be in the hands of anyone teaching cell and molecular biology in which experimental biology is a central focus. I do wish that all questions in the Molecular Cell Biology student companion were not accompanied by the answers. In general, students are too quick to go to them, and hence, lose the opportunity to exercise their analytical skills. Molecular Cell Biology contains a small number of factual errors, typographical errors, and other confusions that one might expect in a volume this size, spanning a vast area of biology. I found the discussion of thermodynamics a bit weak, and was surprised that the concept of the steady-state is given only brief consideration. Also, why are more and more texts omitting the presentation of double-selection in discussing DNA cloning? The double-selection strategy is essential to successful plasmid cloning. One of the
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Book reviews / Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education 29 (2001) 126–133
most daunting aspects of learning modern cell and molecular biology is the dizzying number of acronyms used in the naming of genes and proteins. A glossary of these acronyms would make the life of many students and instructors much easier as they read this text. For many students, keeping these acronyms straight must appear to be part of some cruel initiation rite into the field. I have two far more important criticisms. One of the most difficult processes for students to understand is meiosis, especially with respect to DNA content and the segregation of chromosomes and sister chromatids. Molecular Cell Biology makes meiosis more confusing than it needs to be. The authors have settled in on the notion that n refers to DNA content. Hence, a gamete is 1n, which is fine, but by the reckoning of the authors a somatic cell in S-phase and a gamete just before meiosis I are both 4n. Clearly, they do not intend this, but this is an obvious interpretation that will be reached by a student (I know this because I asked a couple of students to interpret this section). Geneticists correlate n with the number of kinetochores and this alleviates the problem that Lodish et al. run into with their overly-simplistic definition of n, both in their presentation of meiosis (Chapter 8) and discussion of the cell cycle (Chapter 13). Why not go back to the more traditional terminology where c refers to DNA copy number and n refers to kinetochore number? Also in Chapter 8, the authors use ‘‘random segregation’’ for ‘‘independent assortment.’’ Actually, what I fear the authors have done is to merge the two Mendelian principles, the segregation of alleles and independent assortment. This substitution or merger for accepted terminology leads to confusion, to say the least. On the other hand, the authors present a novel and provocative view of osmosis that is not found in any prominent cell biology or biochemistry text. The authors state that pure lipid membranes are rather impermeable to water (contrary to the conventional assertions of many texts), such that water transport is facilitated by a transporter called aquaporin. The gene for the protein was cloned a few years ago, and the authors cite an experiment in which frog oocytes are osmotically lysed when injected with aquaporin mRNA. This was new to me, so I scanned several prominent cell biology and biochemistry texts for any mention of this phenomenology, and found none. This observation and the fact that pure lipid membranes are only slightly permeable to water makes me think that authors of cell biology and biochemistry texts need to revisit their discussions of osmosis. Finally, a note on the emergence of quantitative biology in cell and molecular biology. The authors point to the importance of quantitative methods in coming to a richer understanding of cellular processes, but they do not consistently develop this theme. They do a nice job at the beginning, especially with ligand-receptor equili-
bria, transport kinetics, and enzyme kinetics, but lose track of this theme as they get into the meat of the text. Bruce Alberts and Dennis Bray have commented forcefully that this is the new direction for cell and molecular biology, and the recent literature in cell biology clearly shows this. This inconsistent attention to the emerging importance of quantitative biology is Molecular Cell Biology’s only genuine weakness, especially given the audience for which this book is best suited. Yet, Lodish and colleagues do considerably more here than the authors of the other widely used cell biology texts. A. Uzman Department of Natural Sciences, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX 77002 100 USA E-mail address: [email protected] PII: S 1 4 7 0 - 8 1 7 5 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 2 3 - 6
Physical biochemistry: principles and applications D. Sheehan; Wiley, Chichester, 2000, 349 pp., price £32.50, ISBN 0-471-98663-1 This is an amazingly comprehensive and up-to-date student text, covering all the major aspects of physical biochemistry. It is concisely written, the diagrams are appropriate but simple and clear, and each section has a few well-chosen examples (in ‘‘boxes’’) taken from the recent literature. The short lists of references at the ends of chapters are also admirably up to date, few being earlier than 1996. In addition to the traditional methods, the more recent aspects are dealt with, and it is important that students understand how mass spectroscopy, NMR and FTIR, etc, are used in modern biochemistry, and indeed should know that they will do things than no other methods can do, complicated and expensive though they are. In fact, the book could be used as a reference in order to get a brief (but accurate) view of a technique previously not encountered, or it could form the basis of a very sound course in physical biochemistry. Although mathematical formulae are given as appropriate, it seemed to me that the way in which it was done would not be daunting to the student. Furthermore, molecular biology is dealt with also in appropriate places, in an unobtrusive way, so that students would easily be able to understand the techniques and their relevance. Chapter 1 is a brief Introduction dealing with the factors that affect biomolecules, buffers and units, and this is followed by an extensive chapter on chromatography. All of the major techniques are covered in an admirably concise way, including affinity, metal ion and HPLC, and there is a reasonably concise account of the