Molecular & Cell Biology For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Description

Your insider guide to the stuff of life 3.8 billion years old and counting, there’s more than a little to know about the fundamentals of how life works. This friendly guide takes you from the primordial soup to the present, explaining how specialized cells have given rise to everything living, from the humblest amoeba to walking, talking human beings. Whether you’re enrolled in a cell or molecular biology course and need a straightforward overview, or are just curious about the latest advances, this fully updated edition is your all-access ticket to our inner world.  Molecular & Cell Biology For Dummies decodes jargon and theories that can tax even the most devoted student. It covers everything from basic principles to how new technology, genetic testing, and microarray techniques are opening up new possibilities for research and careers. It also includes invaluable tips on how to prepare for—and ace—your exams!  Explore the structure and function of the cells—and find out why cellular context is crucial to the study of disease Discover how molecular biology can solve world problems Understand how DNA determines traits and is regulated by cells Enhance your knowledge and results with online resources and study tips  From microscopic details to macro concepts, this book has something for you. Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go from Here Part 1 The 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 The 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 A happenin’ place: The cytoplasm The library: DNA-containing region Workbenches: Ribosomes Your Body, Your Cells: Eukaryotic Cells Home office: The nucleus Post office: The endomembrane system The 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 Eukaryotes 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 A 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 Dressing for success: Functional groups determine molecular properties 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 The long and winding road: Secondary structure 3D: Tertiary structure Sometimes one is not enough: Quarternary structure Jacks of All Trades: The Many Functions of Proteins Get ’Er Done: Enzymes Make Things Happen Made for each other: Enzymes and substrates Helping hands: Cofactors and Coenzymes 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 The 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 The 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 Your Metabolism Stayin’ Alive: Cellular Work and the Laws of Thermodynamics The first law of thermodynamics The 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 The Wheel of Fire: Krebs Cycle Linking glycolysis and Krebs 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 The 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 The steps of photophosphorylation The Circle of Life: Calvin Cycle The steps of the Calvin cycle Got Food? Photosynthesis in the Real World Chapter 13 Splitsville: The Cell Cycle, Cell Division, and Cancer Reproducing the Cell Drifting Apart: Binary Fission Red Light, Green Light: The Cell Cycle Pausing during Gap 1 The S phase and Gap 2 The Dance of the Chromosomes: Mitosis Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Cytokinesis Keeping It under Control Cancer: The Enemy Within Defining cancer Causes of cancer Fighting back Part 4 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 An overview of meiosis Shuffling the Genetic Deck: Crossing Over Why Two Divisions Are Better than One It Was All a Mistake: Nondisjunction Chapter 15 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 The 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 It’s News to Mendel: Inheritance beyond Simple Dominance 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 Explaining the differences Analyzing the pedigree Part 5 Molecular Genetics: How Cells Read the Book of Life Chapter 16 DNA Replication: 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 17 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 The decoder: tRNA Master craftsman: The ribosome The steps of translation Don’t Drink and Drive: Mutation Everybody makes mistakes Dealing with the consequences Chapter 18 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 The Master Plan: Gene Expression in Eukaryotes Seizing the opportunity Unpacking the plan Controlling transcription Controlling events between transcription and translation Controlling translation and beyond Learning from Experience: Epigenetics Part 6 Molecular Biology: Harnessing the Power of DNA Chapter 19 The Book of You: Reading Your Genes Copying a gene with PCR Sorting molecules using gel electrophoresis Reading a gene with DNA sequencing 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 Beyond Genomics: Systems Biology and Epigenomes Comparing gene expression with DNA microarrays Mapping the epigenome Chapter 20 Rewriting the Code of Life: Recombinant DNA Technology and Genome Editing Piecing It Together: Recombinant DNA Technology Cutting DNA with restriction enzymes Making cDNA with reverse transcriptase Cloning genes into a library Finding a gene with DNA probes Changing the Plan: Using Recombinant DNA Technology 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 Hitting the Bull’s-Eye with Genome Editing Get off my lawn! CRISPR in nature Changing the plan: CRISPR in the lab Part 7 The Part of Tens Chapter 21 Ten Important Rules for Cells to Live By The Cell Theory The First Law of Thermodynamics The Second Law of Thermodynamics The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection The 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 22 Ten Ways to Improve Your Grade Monitor Your Learning Study Smarter Actively Participate in Class Schedule Your Study Time Give Your Brain a Well-Rounded Workout during Study Sessions Get Creative with Memory Tricks Recognize the Difference between Levels of Understanding Remember the Supporting Material Use Your First Test as a Diagnostic Tool Get Help Sooner Rather than Later Index EULA