Molecular & cell biology for dummies
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Table of Contents
From the Book
Introduction
About this book
Conventions used in this book
What you're not to read
Foolish assumptions
How this book is organized
Part 1: World of the cell
Part 2: Molecules: the stuff of life
Part 3: Working cell
Part 4: Genetics: from one generation to the next
Part 5: Molecular genetics: reading the book of life
Part 6: Tools of molecular biology: harnessing the power of DNA
Part 7: Part of tens
Icons used in this book
Where to go from here
Part I: World Of The Cell
Chapter 1: Exploring the world of the cell
Cells and viruses: discovering the inhabitants of the microscopic world
You: on the cellular level
Them: bacteria and viruses
Life of a cell: how cells get what they need to survive and reproduce
Sexual reproduction: shuffling the genetic deck for the next generation
DNA to protein: following the instructions in the genetic code
DNA technology: tackling the world's problems
Chapter 2: Take a tour inside the cell
Admiring the unity and diversity of cells
Finding common ground: structures in all cells
Customs: plasma membrane
Happenin' place: the cytoplasm
Library: DNA-containing region
Workbenches: ribosomes
Your body, your cells: eukaryotic cells
Home office: the nucleus
Post office: the endomembrane system
Fireplace: mitochondria
In the kitchen: chloroplasts
Scaffolding and railroad tracks: the cytoskeleton
Rebar and concrete: cell walls and extracellular matrices
Tiny but mighty: prokaryotic cells
Castle walls: the cell wall
Ooze, slime, and grappling hooks: capsules, pili, and fimbriae
Outboard motors: bacterial flagella
Chapter 3: Dead or alive: viruses
Viruses: hijackers of the cellular world
Just the basics: the structure of viruses
Knock, knock, virus calling: how viruses get into cells
War on a microcosmic scale: viruses of bacteria
Seek and destroy: the lytic cycle
I think I'll take a little nap: the lysogenic cycle
I've got a cold: viruses of eurkaryotes
Same story, different players
Come in and take your coat off
There's more than one way to copy a virus
Leaving it all behind
Putting it all together
HIV and AIDS: viruses in the real world
Part 2: Molecules: The Stuff Of Life
Chapter 4: Better living through chemistry
Life really matters
It's elemental!: atoms that make up living things
Exploring subatomic particles
Defining elements
Comparing isotopes
Let's bond: how atoms are attracted to each other
Feeling fulfilled by arranging your electrons just right
Holding on: electronegativity
Give and take: oxidation and reduction
Opposites attract: ionic bonds
Sharing is caring: covalent bonds
Molecule by any other picture
Don't hog the toys! Polar covalent bonds
Molecular velcro: hydrogen bonds
Molecular cliques: hydrophobic interactions
Blue planet: the ocean inside your cells
Splitting water
Measuring pH
Changing pH
Maintaining pH
Chain, chain, chain: building and breaking polymers
Identifying the parts and the whole
Getting together and breaking up again
Chapter 5: Carbohydrates: how sweet they are
CH2O: structure of carbohydrates
Keeping it simple: monosaccharides
Making it complex: polysaccharides
Sticky and sweet: functions of carbohydrates
Chapter 6: Proteins: workers in the cellular factory
Get into shape: levels of protein structure
Get in line: primary structure
Long and winding road: secondary structure
3D: tertiary structure
Sometimes one is not enough: quaternary structure
Jack of all trades: the many functions of proteins
Get "er done: enzymes make things happen
Made for each other: enzymes and substrates
Listening to others: inhibiting enzymes
Gatekeepers: membrane proteins
I'm in charge: DNA-binding proteins
Chapter 7: DNA and RNA: instructions for life
It's puzzling: structure of nucleic acids
Navigating nucleotides
Naming the nucleotide bases
Recognizing nucleotides
Making DNA and RNA
Double helix of DNA
Shaping up RNA molecules
Breaking the code: the function of DNA and RNA
Chapter 8: Lipids: waterproof and energy rich
Hydrocarbons: structure of lipids
Saturating fatty acids
Forming fats and oils
Looking at other types of lipids
You say fat like it's a bad thing: functions of lipids
Part 3: Working Cell
Chapter 9: Hello, neighbor: how cells communicate
Shipping and receiving: transport across membranes
Getting past the bouncer
Which way should I go?
Crossing the border
Going with the flow
It's an uphill battle
Chatting through cellular connections
Shaking hands through cell-cell attachments
Sticking together through thick and thin
Jumping the cell-cell gap
Sending and receiving signals
Satellite dishes: receptors
Relaying the message: signal transduction
Amplifying the signal
Calming down: deactivating the signal
Chapter 10: Metabolism: transferring energy and matter
Revving up you metabolism
Stayin' alive: cellular work and the laws of thermodynamics
First law of thermodynamics
Second law of thermodynamics
Going to work in the cellular factory
One step at a time: metabolic pathways
Taking baby steps during chemical reactions
Helping hands from enzymes
Giving and taking electrons in redox reactions
Shuttling electrons with electron carriers
Getting what you need at the cellular level.
Chapter 11: Cellular respiration: every breath you take
Cellular respiration: an overview
Controlling the burn
Transferring energy to ATP
Moving electrons to oxygen
Taking things one step at a time
Gimme a break: glycolysis
Everybody's doing it
Fine print: the steps of glycolysis
Making ATP by substrate-level phosphorylation
Living by glycolysis alone: fermentation
Wheel of fire: Krebs cycle
Linking glycolysis and Krebs cycle
Fine print: the steps of the Krebs cycle
More is better: taking advantage of the Krebs cycle
Taking it to the bank: chemiosmosis and oxidative
Phosphorylation
Transferring electrons along an electron transport chain
Transferring energy from food to ATP
Steps of the chemiosmotic theory of oxidative phosphorylation
Doing the math: how many ATP can you make from the energy in a glucose molecule?
Breaking down complex carbohydrates, proteins, and fats
Finding an on-ramp to the superhighway
Feeding complex carbohydrates into the system
Burning fat
Breaking down proteins
It's a two-way street: connections between metabolic pathways
Reversing the flow of matter and energy
Packing on the fat
Building muscle
Cellular respiration in the real world
Chapter 12: Photosynthesis: makin' food in the kitchen of life
Photosynthesis: an overview
Getting what plants need
Examining the role of soil
Basking in the sun
Capturing the sun's energy with pigments
Yin and yang: the light reactions and the Calvin cycle
Shine on me: the light reactions
Transferring light energy to chemical energy
Steps of photophosphorylation
Circle of life: Calvin cycle
Steps of the Calvin cycle
Got food? Photosynthesis in the real world
Chapter 13: Splitsville: the cell cycle and cell division
Reproducing the cell
Drifting apart: binary fission
Red light, green light: the cell cycle
Pausing during gap 1
S phase and gap 2
Dance of the chromosome: mitosis
Breaking up is hard to do: cytokinesis
Keeping it under control
Part 5: Genetics: From One Generation To The Next
Chapter 14: Meiosis: getting ready for baby
Let's talk about sex, baby: reproduction
Riding the life cycle
Counting chromosomes
Homologous chromosomes
Going separate ways: meiosis
Following the plan
Overview of meiosis
Shuffling the genetic deck: crossing over
Why two divisions are better than one
It was all a mistake: nondisjunction
Chapter 15: Mendelian genetics: talkin' 'bout the generations
Pass the peas, please: Mendel and segregation of single gene traits
Living like a monk
Speaking the lingo
Round pea meets wrinkled pea
Odds are 3:1
Making a prediction
Testing an idea
Remembering meiosis
Playing by the rules
Tracing a trait: pedigrees
I can go my own way: independent assortment
Round yellow pea meets wrinkled green pea
Puzzling over the punnett
Remembering meiosis
Chapter 16: Expect the unexpected: non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance
It's news to Mendel: inheritance beyond simple dominance
Mixing it up: incomplete dominance
Sharing the power: codominance
Making an impact: pleiotropic genes
It's not that simple: polygenic traits
Almost inseparable: linked genes
Traveling together because of linkage
Slipping away through recombination
Building a map of a chromosome
Mama's boy: sex-linked inheritance
Analyzing the pedigree
Explaining the differences
Part 5: Molecular Genetics: Reading The Book Of Life
Chapter 17: DNA synthesis: doubling your genetic stuff
DNA replication: an overview
Everybody lend a hand: enzymes involved in DNA replication
It takes a village: events at the replication fork
Start at the very beginning: origins of replication
Learning to unwind with helicase
Putting down some primer
Rolling down the line
Replacing some tiles
Tying up loose ends
Finishing the job
Keeping it together: leading and lagging strands
Chapter 18: Transcription and translation: what's in a gene?
File it under genes: the blueprints for RNA and proteins
Defining a gene
Going with the flow
Make a copy, please: transcription
Locating the file
Hiring a worker
Marking the end
Finishing touches: RNA processing in eukaryotes
Making a protein: translation
Reading the code
Decoder: tRNA
Master craftsman: the ribosome
Steps of translation
Don't drink and drive: mutation
Everybody makes mistakes
Dealing with the consequences
Chapter 19: Control of gene expression: it's how you play your cards that counts
Controlling the situation: gene regulation and information flow
Becoming a specialist
Keeping house
I can be flexible: gene expression in bacteria
Organizing bacterial genes
Taking E coli to dinner
Looking at lac
Feeling repressed
Game on: inducing the lac operon
Game over: repressing the lac operon
Advancing to the next level: catabolite repression of the lac operon
Master plan: gene expression in eukaryotes
Seizing the opportunity
Unpacking the plan
Controlling transcription
Controlling events between transcription and translation
Controlling translation and beyond
Part 6: Tools Of Molecular Biology: Harnessing The Power Of DNA
Chapter 20: Recombinant DNA technology: power tools at the cellular level
Piecing it together: recombinant DNA technology
Cutting DNA with restriction enzymes
Sorting molecules using gel electrophoresis
Making cDNA with reverse transcriptase
Cloning genes into a library
Finding a gene with DNA probes
Copying a gene with PCR
Reading a gene with DNA sequencing
Changing the plan: using molecular biology to solve problems
Making useful proteins through genetic engineering
Searching for disease genes
Building a "better" plant with genetic engineering
Fixing a broken gene with gene therapy
Chapter 21: Genomics: the big picture
I read the whole thing: sequencing genomes
Unleashing the power of genomics
Reading the book of life with shotgun sequencing
Looking within the human genome
We have a lot in common: comparative genomics
What's your function?: functional genomics
Looking for open reading frames
Comparing gene expression with DNA microarrays
Reaping the rewards: pharmacogenomics
I've got a system: systems biology
Part 7: Part Of Tens
Chapter 22: Ten important rules for cells to live by
Cell theory
First law of thermodynamics
Second law of thermodynamics
Theory of evolution by natural selection
Law of conservation of matter
Nucleic acids pair in antiparallel strands
Central dogma
Protein shape is essential to their function
Law of segregation
Law of independent assortment
Chapter 23: Ten ways to improve your grade
Keep your mind alive during lecture
Schedule your study time
Be active, not passive
Give your brain a well-round workout during study sessions
Get creative with memory tricks
Recognize the difference between levels of understanding
Remember the supporting material
Test yourself often
Use your first test as a diagnostic tool
Get help sooner rather than later
Index.
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ISBN
9780470430668
9781283203340
9781119620402
9781283203340
9781119620402
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