Molecular & cell biology for dummies / by René Fester Kratz.

Includes index.

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.

From the Publisher: Your hands-on study guide to the inner world of the cell. Need to get a handle on molecular and cell biology? This easy-to-understand guide explains the structure and function of the cell and how recombinant DNA technology is changing the face of science and medicine. You discover how fundamental principles and concepts relate to everyday life. Plus, you get plenty of study tips to improve your grades and score higher on exams! Explore the world of the cell; take a tour inside the structure and function of cells and see how viruses attack and destroy them; Understand the stuff of life (molecules); get up to speed on the structure of atoms, types of bonds, carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, RNA, and lipids; Watch as cells function and reproduce; See how cells communicate, obtain matter and energy, and copy themselves for growth, repair, and reproduction; Make sense of genetics; Learn how parental cells organize their DNA during sexual reproduction and how scientists can predict inheritance patterns; Decode a cell's underlying programming; Examine how DNA is read by cells, how it determines the traits of organisms, and how it's regulated by the cell; Harness the power of DNA; Discover how scientists use molecular biology to explore genomes and solve current world problems; Open the book and find: Easy-to-follow explanations of key topics; The life of a cell; What it needs to survive and reproduce; Why molecules are so vital to cells; Rules that govern cell behavior; Laws of thermodynamics and cellular work; The principles of Mendelian genetics; Useful Web sites; Important events in the development of DNA technology; Ten great ways to improve your biology grade.