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Read more about Cell and Molecular Biology: What We Know & How We Found Out - 5e

Cell and Molecular Biology: What We Know & How We Found Out - 5e

(16 reviews)

Gerald Bergtrom, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Copyright Year: 2020

Last Update: 2023

ISBN 13: 9780996150279

Publisher: University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Language: English

Formats Available

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CC BY

Reviews

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Reviewed by Erica Lannan, Professor of Biology, Prairie State College on 3/13/23

The book covers all of the topics of Cellular and Molecular Biology in good detail. It even includes some topics that are not always covered in textbooks in very much detail, such as transposons (pages instead of a paragraph at most). Some... read more

Reviewed by ANJAN PRADHAN, Instructor, Virginia Commonwealth University on 8/26/22

It describes the whole content in a concise manner, which can give a whole idea about cell and molecular biology. However, for a detailed study, students should do further readings. read more

Reviewed by Meg Emori, Instructor, Virginia Tech on 4/3/22

Index links to chapters for ease of navigation in downloaded PDF. Material is generally well covered, but is broken up by links to videos and is somewhat hard to follow as paragraph style dives into deeper tangents without first clarifying the... read more

Reviewed by Zhiming Liu, Professor of Biology, Eastern New Mexico University on 1/11/22

This is a comprehensive textbook that begins with an introduction to the molecular building blocks of cells. It then moves on to bioenergetics, biochemistry, genetics, DNA biotechnology, to origins of life. Its twenty chapters cover all aspects... read more

Reviewed by Adriana LaGier, Associate Professor, Grand View University on 10/26/21

Gerald Bergtrom’s “Basic Cell and Molecular Biology: What we know and How we found out” textbook is a tour de force showcasing his passion for teaching fledgling scientists. The textbook’s comprehensiveness lays bare to the reader that this is... read more

Reviewed by Joyce Kaplan, Part-Time Instructor, Portland Community College on 6/7/21

Most topics expected in a cell biology course for both beginning students and more advanced students in majors biology are covered in a fair amount of depth. A few subjects lack the depth expected, particularly in the area of enzyme regulation,... read more

Reviewed by Philip Rock, Professor of Biology, Virginia Wesleyan University on 5/31/21

This as comprehensive and up to date as any upper-level Cell Biology text I have used. It think is suitable for both higher-level college and introductory graduate school cell biology classes. read more

Reviewed by Meltem Arikan, Adjunct Faculty, Massachusetts Maritime Academy on 6/29/20

This book is much more than a regular textbook. It covers quite a few subjects some other books generally omit. However this doesn't interfere with classroom instruction as they are clearly defined and both the instructor and the student can... read more

Reviewed by Yoshinori Tomoyasu, Associate Professor, Miami University on 2/22/20

This is a very nice and comprehensive textbook that covers most of the fundamental ideas in cell and molecular biology. The textbook also covers some new topics, albeit the coverage is somewhat limited. It provides a hyperlinked table of contents,... read more

Reviewed by Christine Terry, Assistant Professor, Lynchburg College on 6/20/17

There is a hyperlinked table of contents with fairly descriptive chapter titles. However, the text lacks an index that could be used to find specific terms and concepts by searching directly. There is a list of relevant terms at the end of each... read more

Reviewed by Tracy Haynes, Senior Lecturer, Miami University on 6/20/17

This text is thorough in the sense that it covers all pertinent topics taught in an introductory cell and molecular biology course. While some processes, such as prokaryotic transcriptional regulation and molecule techniques such as CRISPR/CAS,... read more

Reviewed by Kate Kenyon, Associate Professor, Umpqua Community College on 6/20/17

This text is a great introductory text that includes the basics of cell and molecular biology. It would be a very useful introductory text. Each chapter includes appropriate video presentations which adds to comprehension. There is a theme... read more

Reviewed by Aimee Hollander, Assistant Professor , Nicholls State University on 2/8/17

This book covers the basics of cell and molecular biology and would be useful in an introductory class (100-200 level). I expected more molecular techniques discussed since there was an entire chapter on DNA techniques however model organisms and... read more

Reviewed by Alan Schenkel, Associate Professor, Colorado State University on 12/5/16

This book is a very comprehensive text for understanding cell biology. Aimed at a biology majors in an introductory class, the book and associated lectures cover both eukaryotic and prokaryotic molecular nucleic acid and protein structures,... read more

Reviewed by Ângela Katsuyama, Postdoc, previously instructor, University of Washington on 8/21/16

Overall, without looking into details of every chapter, the book seems to cover properly the subject. The main index is ok. The book has a list of key words at the end of each chapter, but no glossary. The text introduces some techniques to... read more

Reviewed by Brendan Mattingly, Academic Program Associate, University of Kansas on 8/21/16

The text provides coverage of a very broad range of topics, starting with biochemistry, moving into molecular biology, and ending with cell biology. Throughout the entire text evolution is a constant theme, providing context, rationale, and... read more

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • Chapter 1: Cell Tour, Life’s Properties and Evolution, Studying Cells
  • Chapter 2: Basic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Chapter 3: Details of Protein Structure
  • Chapter 4: Bioenergetics
  • Chapter 5: Enzyme Catalysis and Kinetics
  • Chapter 6: Glycolysis, the Krebs Cycle and the Atkins Diet
  • Chapter 7: Electron Transport, Oxidative Phosphorylation and Photosynthesis
  • Chapter 8: DNA Structure, Chromosomes and Chromatin
  • Chapter 9: Details of DNA Replication & DNA Repair
  • Chapter 10: Transcription and RNA Processing
  • Chapter 11: The Genetic Code and Translation
  • Chapter 12: Regulation of Transcription and Epigenetic Inheritance
  • Chapter 13: Posttranscriptional Regulation of Gene Expression
  • Chapter 14: Repetitive DNA, A Eukaryotic Genomic Phenomenon
  • Chapter 15: DNA Technologies
  • Chapter 16: Membrane Structure
  • Chapter 17: Membrane Function
  • Chapter 18: The Cytoskeleton and Cell Motility
  • Chapter 19: Cell Division and the Cell Cycle
  • Chapter 20: The Origins of Life
  • Epilouge
  • Appendix I: List of Figures & Sources
  • Appendix II: Context-Embedded Youtube Videos

Ancillary Material

  • Instructor's Text
  • Art and Illustration Resource
  • About the Book

    CMB5e is the latest edition of an interactive Open Educational Resource (OER) electronic textbook (iText), available under a Creative Commons CC-BY license. Like earlier editions, CMB5e opens with a short history of the discipline and a discussion of scientific method. The book remains focused on the understanding of evolution that informs all of the life sciences and continues to provide experimental support for what we know about cell and molecular biology. Having a sense of how science is practiced and how investigators think about experimental results is essential to understanding the relationship of cell structure and function, not to mention the natural world around us. CMB5e is available in three versions (plus a sample chapter):

    1. In each chapter of the Basic CMB5e iText, an introduction includes learning objectives and context-embedded links to short explanatory voice-over PowerPoint recordings (VOPs) and other web-links of interest. QR codes allow the reader just-in-time access to the VOPs on smart phones or any camera-enabled portable device.
    2. The Annotated CMB5e adds pre-written, interactive context-embedded Challenge boxes to the Basic version of the book. These contain open-ended questions that expand on text readings. Any or all of them can be the basis of informal class and online discussion or as graded assignments.
    3. The Instructor’s CMB5e iText adds a series of 25 Words or Less essay questions that the author used as short (i.e., easy to grade!) writing assignments to strengthen student’s critical thinking and writing skills.
    4. A CMB5e Sample Chapter.
    5. The Art and Illustration Resource for Cell and Molecular Biology contains high resolution JPGs of figures in all CMB5 digital and print versions. JPGs are all public domain or CC-BY licensed (a source list is included).

    About the Contributors

    Author

    Dr. Bergtrom is Professor (Emeritus) of Biological Sciences at the UW-Milwaukee and a former Teaching and Learning consultant in the UW-M Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Scientific interests include cell, molecular and evolutionary biology. Pedagogic interests include the use of technology to serve active and engaged teaching and learning. He has taught face-to-face, fully online, blended and flipped classes. He also developed and co-instructed Teaching with Technology, an interdisciplinary graduate course for graduate students that might someday be teaching. In 40+ years of teaching and research, he has tested and adopted pedagogically proven teaching technologies in his courses. His scientific publications are supplemented by publications on active learning in all teaching modes. The first edition of his Cell and Molecular Biology What We Know & How We Found Out appeared in 2015. Further editions came out in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

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