Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun, Third Edition [Paperback]

David P. Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1889899070 | ISBN-13: 978-1889899077 | Edition: 3

Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale. Textbook written primarily for the science student, but suitable for the non-scientist. Presents and understanding of the fundamentals and tools of molecular biology. Details how this field has and will continue to have an impact on health, law, agriculture, and biotechnology. Previous edition: c1997. Softcover.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Clark was born June 1952 in Croydon, a London suburb. After winning a scholarship to Christ's College in Cambridge, he received his B.A. in 1973. In 1977, he got his PhD from Bristol University for work on antibiotic resistance. He then left England for postdoctoral research at Yale and then the University of Illinois. He joined the faculty of Southern Illinois University in 1981 and is now a professor in the Microbiology Department. In 1991 he visited Sheffield University, England as a Royal Society Guest Research Fellow. His research into the genetics and regulation of bacterial fermentation has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy from 1982 till the present. He has published over 70 articles in scientific journals and graduated over 20 master s and PhD students. He is unmarried and lives with two cats, Little George, who is orange and Ralph who is mostly black and eats cardboard. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 515 pages
• Publisher: Cache River Pr; 3 edition (April 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889899070
• ISBN-13: 978-1889899077
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Clark was born June 1952 in Croydon, a London suburb. After winning a scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge, he received his B.A. in 1973. In 1977 got his PhD from Bristol University for work on antibiotic resistance. He then left England for postdoctoral research at Yale and then the University of Illinois. He joined the faculty of Southern Illinois University in 1981 and is now a professor in the Microbiology Department. In 1991 he visited Sheffield University, England as a Royal Society Guest Research Fellow. His research into the genetics and regulation of bacterial fermentation has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy from 1982 till 2007. He has published over 70 articles in scientific journals and graduated over 20 master's and PhD students. He is unmarried and lives with two cats, Little George, who is orange and Ralph who is mostly black and eats cardboard. He is the author of Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun, now in its third edition, as well as three more serious textbooks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Life Saver, May 24, 2000

By 

Eric Anson (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun (Paperback)

I am a computer scientist and I did my Ph.D. dissertation in the area of Computational Biology. My problem was that I had no background in molecular biology (or any other kind of biology for that matter). Many conference speakers and scientific papers would leave me lost. I didn't need to be an expert in biology, but I did need to have some idea of what was going on.

This book was a Godsend for me. It is an easy read, filled with humor and drawings. But don't let that mislead you, it is also filled with a wealth of useful information, especially for a novice to the field. Reading this book will not make you a molecular biologist, but it will allow you to talk reasonably intelligently to one. I recomend this book very highly to anyone who has an interest in this field, but doesn't know much about it. It is a great stepping stone to more complex texts and papers.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monkey see, monkey do, November 17, 2002

By 

Susan Hinojoza "It's a full life." (Union City, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun (Paperback)

I am a high school science teacher starting up a new biotechnology program for our students. I have been looking for a text to supplement the curriculum that is informative, accurate and readable for high school students. This book is the best I've seen.

What makes this book so extrememly valuable is that it is eminently readable. Through humor, illustrations, examples and great graphics, the subject matter comes to life. Informative texts are worthless if no one reads them, or, if in reading them, cannot understand them! The authors have accomplished something great here and have indeed made the subject simple and fun.

I know that my high school students will be able to get something from this book. This does not mean, however, that the book is extremely basic or easy. The information presented is extensive and accurate. It is the way the book is written that will allow readers to absorb more information. Here is an example paragraph from the introduction to Chapter 9, Messing About with DNA:

"Suppose we want to create our very own monster by genetic engineering. How do we go about it? Frankenstein made his monster by sewing a brain into a body and then charging up his creation with a lightning bolt. Genetic engineers make patchwork organisms not by joining organs but by splicing genes together. So, let's get started on some basic operations."

You can see how friendly and readable the book is.

This book is for you if you are an undergraduate or high school student of biotechnology or if you are a layperson simply interested in the subject matter.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible introduction to a complex field, July 14, 2006

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun, Third Edition (Paperback)

This book is advertised as a text for the lay person that can also serve as a textbook for levels ranging from high school to graduate school. Unfortunately, this is a drawback, as the book tries to be all things to all people. The book is written in a conversational style and makes use of numerous cartoon drawings in its explanations. Most of the diagrams are very helpful. However, some drawings are somewhat juvenile and cheesy with faces drawn on enzymes, for example. Extra wide margins contain definitions of words used in the adjacent text as well as occasional jokes and anecdotes. Molecular terms are redefined whenever they are used, so you can skip around in the book with no problem understanding what is being presented.

The introductory chapter compares the molecular biology revolution with the industrial revolution. The next few chapters review bacteria, basic genetics, and the molecular basis of heredity. These are followed by chapters on the basics of DNA replication, transcription, and proteins. All these fundamentals are very well covered, and the diagrams illustrate the points well.

The next few chapters review various techniques including gene transfer in bacteria, with subjects such as transformation and plasmids being well covered. There is also coverage of DNA manipulation including purification, restriction enzymes, and agarose gel electrophoresis. Other chapters concerning methodology cover PCR and DNA sequencing. There is a very good chapter on transgenics that includes micro-injection, knock-outs, and reporter genes. One chapter is devoted specifically to the techniques of molecular biology. This contains a rather brief overview of a wide array of techniques such as bandshift assays, detection systems, FACS, and RFLP that could easily have been expanded. Other chapters focus on the applied side of molecular technology with discussions of topics such as biotechnology products and forensic medicine. The book also brings the subject matter home with very good chapters on inherited diseases as well as cancer and aging, and shows how biology at the molecular level comes into play in each of these matters.

Overall, there is a strong emphasis on DNA at the expense of RNA. Similarly, there is not much information on protein analysis. Even the authors cannot keep up with the speed of the molecular biology revolution, since a number of current popular techniques, such as differential display and quantitative PCR, are only briefly mentioned or are not even included.

Overall, Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun contains" some useful information, especially with respect to DNA techniques and applications. This book would probably be most applicable as a supplementary textbook for an introductory college class on molecular biology or as a reference guide to look up unfamiliar molecular techniques, such as ones that might be encountered in journal articles. I think it might be too advanced for high school students. I found it a fairly accessible read and very informative, and my background is in engineering and computer science, not biology, other than what I took as a college undergraduate. I highly recommend it.

The table of contents is as folows:
1. Introduction.
2. Bacteria: The Molecular BIologists's Guinea Pigs
3. Basic Genetics
4. Required Reading: The Molecular Basis of Heredity
5. Duplicating the DNA: Replication.
6. Getting the Message Out: Transcription of Genes to Produce Messenger RNA
7. Proteins: The Buck Stops Here
8. Gene Transfer in Bacteria
9. Messing About with DNA
10. Products from BIotechnology
11. Genetic Organization in Higher Organisms
12. Mutations: Things That Go Bump in the Night
13. Inherited Human Disease
14. Cancer and Aging
15. Down on the Farm: Transgenic Plants and Animals
16. Just Do It! Techniques of Molecular BIology
17. PCR: The Polymerase Chain Reaction and Its Many Uses
18. Whodunit? Forensic Medicine and Molecular Biology
19. Gene Creatures, Part I: Viruses, Viroids and Plasmids
20. Gene Creatures, Part II: Jumping Genes and Junk DNA
21. Biological Warfare
22. The Molecular Defense Initiative: Your Immune System at Work
23. Sequencing DNA
24. Molecular Evolution: Memories of "The Way We Were"
25. Classification: BIology for the Neurotic and the Obsessive-Compulsive
26. A Brief History of Molecular Biology
27. Molecular Biology: A Millenial Update
28. What Was Said - What Was Meant: Understanding a Seminar in Molecular Biology.