Cell Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry for Pre-Clinical Students

Reviewed by Christine Fleet, Professor of Biology, Emory and Henry College on 6/26/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book covers a good range of basic biology topics. Several chapters highlight clinically-relevant applications of the basic science, which should provide good preparation for students pursuing health care careers. The combined topic areas of cell, biochemistry, and genetics relate well to each other, so it is nice to have all three areas covered in the same text. A stand-alone course in either Cell Bio, Biochemistry, or Genetics would likely need additional resources for more depth and application. However, this is a good overall introduction, and a good resource for students who are reviewing key concepts.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content appears accurate and the figures, labels, and captions are helpful.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book's focus on core concepts allows it to be relevant and without being likely to become obsolete. The organization is such that existing chapters could be amended or new chapters added if/ when updates are needed. Since the current text covers Sanger sequencing, a future update might also include information about next-generation sequencing technologies.

Clarity rating: 5

The prose is clear and concise. Key concepts are addressed without excessive detail or jargon, making for an accessible introduction or review.

Consistency rating: 5

The overall formatting appears consistent for the text, layout, and figures.

Modularity rating: 5

The book spans a range of content areas, but instructors could easily select a relevant subset of chapters for different course needs.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Within each of the three main topic areas, the chapters follow a logical order. In addition, each content area allows a reader to have a better depth of understanding of the other topics.

Interface rating: 5

The navigation interface is straight-forward.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There were no significant grammatical or typographical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The book is not culturally insensitive, and appears to avoid reference to potentially sensitive topics. However, some of the language in the genetics section could be updated to recognize the complexity of sex determination vs gender identity. In addition, the field of genetics is impacted by considerable cultural complexity in the relationship between genetics and identity, and in ways that genetics research in the past has been used to harm some groups. This is not addressed in the text, but awareness of these issues is likely to be important for future clinicians.

This text provides a clear, accessible overview of core concepts relevant to the field. The concise content could allow instructors to pair this text with different types of resources depending on the focus or needs of an individual course.

Reviewed by Lindsy Boateng, Assistant Professor of Biology, Newberry College on 11/9/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This textbook does a nice job giving a basic clear-cut introduction to the topics of Cell Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry. It covers the most critical basic principals in each category. However, the book is not comprehensive in each subject matter. The coverage is simplistic and a fair amount of material is left out. While the information is clear, there is very minimal expansion or application of the knowledge. Some definitions or explanations seem abrupt and not very thorough.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The material presented appears to be accurate. However, there is a feeling that material is missing for sufficient prep for pre-clinical students.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The information covered will be relevant for a long time as this basic knowledge rarely changes. It provides foundational knowledge than can be built upon over time. More information could be added to demonstrate relevance to topics in society.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is clear, but feels "dry". The correct terminology is used. The writing is clear but almost feels robotic as if facts are simply stated but there is no excitement, passion, or emotion in it. This may be good for readers who simply want the straight-up facts without any added flavor to pique interest.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is consistent in its style and format. However some sections are surprisingly short while others may be long.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is divided up into sections that can be referenced to. The sections are numbered and you could reference to headings or subheadings if needed.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the text is easy to follow. You can click on a larger topic which is divided into subtopics. It would be nice if the subtopics (weblinks) followed the same format as the first topics (click on pictured boxes).

Interface rating: 5

Fairly easy to navigate without issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The grammar is fine.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The text does not appear to be culturally offensive, but it also doesn't seem to include any cultural references or diversity of viewpoints. It simply states scientific facts.

Reviewed by Jennifer Rainville, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech on 4/11/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This is an excellent resource and overview of simple cell and molecular biology, basic genetics and a great introduction to clinically-relevant biochemistry.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content, including diagrams, appear to be accurate and well-labeled.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The current content is up-to-date, and by the nature of the material will remain relevant for the foreseeable future. The format will also allow for additional sections to be added if new information should be included.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in language that undergraduate students will find accessible, while remaining scientifically accurate. Descriptions and definitions are clearly explained throughout.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent and makes consistent references; additionally, the diagrams are similar and consistently drawn/labeled, which makes then simple to follow and relate to other sections of the text.

Modularity rating: 5

Subheadings are used very well, and present easily digestible sections of content that can be assigned and addressed independently. It should be very simple to reorganize as needed for a particular course or study needs.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The three major sections (biochemistry, genetics and cell biology) are very nicely organized by subtopic, and presented in a logical and easy to understand order.

Interface rating: 5

There are no issues with navigation, and all images and charts are clear. Additionally, the image text descriptions (when hovering over image) are very nice summaries of the content for readers who rely on audio information.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors detected.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. However, no reference to race other than a mention of the cystic fibrosis incidence in Caucasians. Since this text does contain correlations with clinical situations and medically-related statistics, it might be helpful to include some reference to differences that might be racially relevant when teaching students. It might also be beneficial to include gender/sex differences and age-related difference for clinical values (lipid profiles, for example) so students understand that other factors can influence the values as well as pathological states.

This in an incredible resource for any student studying cell biology, genetics and biochemistry! I would also highly recommend this as reference material for courses that expect students to have a foundation in the above topics. The clinical perspective is also very helpful and hopefully makes the material more interesting and engaging for students in pre-clinical courses.