The new text has been carefully geared to introductory students, without any sacrifice to scientific rigour. The book's conceptual approach, in which the essential facts are presented in their biological context, is ideal for engaging and motivating students new to molecular cell biology. The book is written especially for undergraduates in biological sciences, but its content can be easily understood and absorbed by advanced high-school students who need a basic introduction to the essential topics in modern biology. Here are some of the highlights of the coverage: a chapter on proteins take students step-by-step from the basic construction of protein molecules to the construction of the protein machines that drive cellular processes; coverage of genetic variation and recombinant DNA technology offers students an easy-to-understand introduction to the techniques at the frontiers of biological research; the text is enlivened and enriched throughout with examples of practical applications of the basic biological principles presented; explanations of cell biological processes also show at the molecular level how cancers can arise when the processes go out of control. The book also features: fully up-to-date chapters on intracellular membrane traffic, the cytoskeleton, the cell cycle and signal transduction which provide a state-of-the-art perspective on these cutting-edge fields at an introductory level; problems and answers complement the text and stimulate the student's curiosity; quick questions within each chapter enable students to instantly review what they have just read; end-of-chapter self-tests of more challenging questions let students gauge their grasp of the material and whet their appetite for more information; easy-to-understand panels illuminate the principles of microscopy, the composition of biological macromolecules, the basis of hydrophobicity, the glycolytic pathway, principles of genetics, and many more topics; full-colour art work and photographs and electron micrographs enliven the text; and a detailed glossary helps students master the specialized vocabulary of modern biology.