%0 Journal Article
%T The Machinery of Life
%A Tina Toni
%J Human Genomics
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1479-7364-4-5-369
%X The book is aimed at non-scientific readers and at researchers from different disciplines who are looking for a quick and entertaining, but scientifically sound, introduction to molecular biology. But even experienced researchers across the biological sciences will derive great pleasure from dipping into the book and its charming hand-coloured pictures. The Machinery of Life is all about putting basic biological knowledge into perspective and developing intuition about how biological molecules assemble to build organelles, cells and whole organisms.The book wonderfully develops the understanding of a multi-scale view on the mechanisms of life; it explains how molecules assemble to form cells and how cells work together to build whole multicellular organisms. Without the need to understand thoroughly every single detail of each individual process and molecule, Goodsell teaches us how different molecules act in concert, and makes us appreciate and understand how processes on a molecular level are responsible for getting old, jumping when playing basketball, catching a cold or feeling hungry.The first three chapters of the book cover a quick introduction to basic molecular biology and the biochemistry of molecules such as DNA, lipids and poly-saccharides. We learn how these biological molecules are employed in cells to build new proteins or obtain energy, how they protect the cells and how cells use them to communicate with the environment.The next two chapters describe and contrast the structure and components of Escherichia coli and human cells. Through these model organisms, the reader is able to appreciate the differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Viruses are then added to this collection in Chapter 8, which is an engaging introduction to immunology and covers today's pertinent issues, such as HIV and the avian and swine flu viruses. The book explains why vaccines sometimes work and sometimes do not, and why some infections are deadly while others a
%U http://www.humgenomics.com/content/4/5/369