Reader-friendly Cell Biology, 4th Edition, provides a concise but comprehensive foundation for students entering research or health care career paths. Award winning illustrations help readers quickly grasp general principles. The authors have thoroughly updated this popular text to provide readers with the current understanding of the principles of normal cellular function along with examples of how molecular defects predispose to human disease. Major new themes in the 4th edition include the roles of intrinsically disordered polypeptides and phase separation in cellular functions, the influence of new molecular structures on understanding mechanisms, and the impact of exciting new methods—from single cell RNA sequencing to second generation super resolution fluorescence microscopy—on advancing our understanding. 

Key Features

• Clear, readable explanations provide a concise story about how cells function at the molecular level.    

• An intuitive chapter flow starts with genome organization, gene expression, and RNA processing as a foundation for understanding every aspect of cellular function and physiology. 

• Brings cellular biology to life for students interested in medical science by explaining how mutations in genes can compromise virtually every cellular system and predispose to human disease. Knowledge of cell biology has led to new treatments for cancer, heart failure, cystic fibrosis, and many other diseases. 

• Unique illustrations with realistic proportions and relationships explain every cellular process including the assembly of SARS CoV-2, the structures attaching mitotic chromosomes to microtubules, the mechanism of DNA replication and how pumps, carriers and channels orchestrate physiological processes from synaptic transmission to cellular volume regulation. 

• Covers exciting breakthroughs such as SMC motor proteins actively organizing chromosomal DNA, TOR kinases regulating metabolism, new types of immunotherapy for cancer treatment, mechanisms regulating fast axonal transport and their relation to neurodegenerative diseases, how completion of DNA replication sets the time for cells to enter mitosis, how a cascade of signals specifies the site of cell division, and newly understood pathways of normal and pathological cell death.