Molecular Biology of the Cell Reviews

• One of my absolute favorite textbooks...

  
  By A23OLHL5RPQKLP on 2000-07-01
  In graduate school for Neuroscience I had to take a class on molecular biology and biochemistry which was required of all med students whether Ph.D. or M.D. or both. We had five different teachers in the class, three of whom were foreign. Since I was the first Deaf person to take Neuroscience there, they weren't prepared for me...and I ended up taking the class without interpreters! I had to lipread the teachers. If it hadn't been for this particular textbook, I would never had made it through! I am not kidding anyone by saying this. YOu can take a class with just this textbook for information and still pass with flying colors. That is how well this text is written. For once, the book was written with the student in mind, not the peers of the authors. It was written to teach the same information that the authors had in such a way as to make it understandable. Not only did I use this text in this class but in most of my classes at med school. When I started working on HIV encephalitis in my chosen lab for two years, I was not surprised to find this book on the shelves...and we all referred to it constantly. I applaud the authors for a job well done, and if I ever write a textbook, this will be the one I use to follow as an appropriate way to write curriculum. The amount of pictures and graphs were especially great for teaching Deaf students and I intend to use it for such. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh
  
  

• The single most useful textbook I own

  
  By on 1999-07-16
  This text covers every important aspect in the field, from experimental techniques and basic concepts to reviews of immunology, cancer, and developmental biology. I used it as a reference in four different undergraduate classes, and have prepared for several job interviews by reviewing the relevant information in this book. The illustrations are all relevant, the organization is excellent, and the prose is so well written that I take the book off the shelf and read it for fun. A new edition would be useful - some of the more speculative information is outdated - but this is still the best textbook I own.
  
  

• Best intro molecular/cell text out there.

  
  By on 2000-08-08
  Well, considering that this book got me through a full year of molecular and cell biology as an undergraduate, I'm pretty fond of the book. Especially considering that the second half of the year was taught by two people who had never taught a class in their lives before. Reason for the five stars is that this is an INTRODUCTORY level textbook written about 7 years ago. Even considering that, it's thorough enough and comprehensive enough for an entire year. I wasn't expecting work done last year to be included and I wasn't expecting that it would delve into the intricate details of photosynthetic reaction centers or the latest in optical methods in single molecule dynamics. If you want that kind of detail, go to the journals or specialized texts. However, for those undergraduates undertaking a full year of MCB, I can't recommend this text highly enough. And if you're looking for prokaryotic information, I'd go pick up a copy of Prescott, Harley, and Klein's "Microbiology."
  
  

• Beware if you're looking for the new edition

  
  By AOXEO22VGG37K on 2000-04-19
  I purchased this edition hoping that it had been updated since the 1995 edition. However, this is the same book as the 1995 edition, except it has a CD-ROM to accompany it. In my opinion, the only people who will find the CD-ROM useful are beginning students of molecular biology. The illustrations in the book are good to begin with which largely negate the need for this CD-ROM.
  
  

• Everything you always wanted to know about Eucaryotic cells

  
  By A2LEQL39M8PMP4 on 1999-11-27
  There is so much praise in the other reviews, what else should one say about this book ? Before holding the book in my hands, I wondered why so many reviewers mention the pictures in this book. Now I know why. The authors use different kinds of pictures to make clear what is where in a cell and how parts cooperate: 1. simple line drawings and chemical structures 2. coloured schemes for complex structures 3. images from Electron Microscopes or Micrographs. The images are (technically, sharpness, details, contrast) of very good quality. I have never seen better ones, but this may be my fault.

  I could go on in praising this extraordinarily good text book like the other reviewers, but instead I will try to play Advocatus Diaboli. So, what could one say against this book ? 1. It is expensive 2. It is heavy, you will never take it to class room 3. Laboratory techniques are not described, you have to buy the companion "Problems Book" for techniques and experiments 4. This book is mostly about eucaryotic cells, this means there is very few information about bacteria in it. 5. The chapters are structured according to processes in the cell, if your approach is a different one, you need the index to find the places in the book.

  I bought this book because I wanted information about bacteria, so I am a bit disappointed by the book because of its focus on eucaryotic cells. But this book still is the best book about microbiology in general that I have (although microbiology in general is not its focus).
  
  

• Great, but Last 5 Chapters are Electronic
  By A2583ULW02BUNI on 2008-01-12
  GREAT book, but the only problem is that the last 5 chapters are in PDF format on an attached CD rather than in print (they did this to make the book more portable). If you want the full print version, buy the Reference edition.
  
  
• Very Poor Image Quality in Kindle Edition
  By AI2UKD3PELX5R on 2009-07-18
  This is a great textbook. It's availability on the Kindle was the main reason I bought the Kindle DX.
  
  Unfortunately the image quality of the Kindle edition is extremely poor. Given how heavily the book relies on illustrations and tables, this renders the Kindle version almost useless.
  
  It's basically impossible to read text in most of the images. Even if you zoom in, all you see is a grainy enlargement of the original image, not more detail.
  
  Somebody didn't know what they were doing when they produced the digital edition.
  
  
• Comprehensive and useful
  By A17XJLBHKBSGL5 on 2000-06-04
  Most people, when commenting about this book, tend to compare it to Lodish's Molecular Cell Biology. I own both, and I must say that they are quite similar in their content but different in the way of explaining concepts. Although Lodish's book is a little more up-to-date, it's just a matter of time until a new edition of MBoC is published. In fact, a great number of concepts are clearer in Molecular Biology of the Cell... and vice-versa. About the book, it is the authoritative text of molecular biology for beginners and a reference guide to all fields of cell biology. The chapters concerning the structure of the cell and of the organelles are amazing and include in-depth explanations. It also comprehends the best revision chapters on macromolecules compared to Lodish's. The team of authors was accurate to compose one of the best books in molecular biology for students of all biological and biomedical sciences.
  
  
• The best textbook I've ever used
  By A17UL6RVPNK5IS on 2000-06-04
  This beautiful textbook does not talk down to its readers. Many of the subjects discussed are difficult, but the authors do an outstanding job of explaining things clearly, and the illustrations are superb. The authors cover an amazing amount of material (the book is a little uneven - the parts on replication, translation, transcription, and development are all top-notch, while the chapters on signalling and the cytoskeleton range from decent to poorly written and confusing at times), and the book really does inspire the reader to learn more about the field. This work makes Baltimore et al's book look cartoonish by comparison. Excellent.
  
  
• Comprehensible by Non-Specialist
  By A1RPKCLVRLU062 on 2009-09-16
  [Reviewing 5th Edition, Chapters 1-7] I'm a Ph.D. computer scientist working on an NIH grant in text mining biomedical literature, so I thought I should bone up on the underlying science. The first seven chapters of this book are just what I needed. The first overview chapter is an excellent standalone introduction to the cell and genomics/proteomics and their ilk. After a two-chapter very comprehensible introduction to biochemistry (strong emphasis on thermodynamics/energy and bonding/structure) and protein structures, the next chapters lay out the entire process from DNA to protein, including expression control.
  
  It's slow reading (it takes me an hour or more to read 10 pages), but very clearly written, and very thorough. The diagrams and accompanying text are amazingly clear and helpful. (There are also animations, but I've never looked at the DVD.) The diagrams and their long captions are often supplementary in that they add details that are not in the body of the text.
  
  I had read the same sections of the 4th Edition a few years ago. The 5th edition adds substantial new material starting with the chapter on proteins. Ironically, the 5th edition is more speculative, because the more we find out about gene expression, the further away full understanding seems to be. The book does a nice job of balancing what's known fairly certainly with speculative guesses about things like chromatin structure.
  
  This time, I think I'll keep going. The sections of the rest of the book I've browsed when they've been cross-referenced are also excellent.
  
  
  
  
• An exceptional book!
  By A1PLTK4S8WBUDH on 2001-01-13
  We used it as a textbook for our cell bioloogy course at the Copenhagen Medical School, and I guess we all loved it! This is a book that tells an important story, and takes the necessary time and space to do just that.
  
  
• Best Molecular Biology textbook ever
  By A3JW5F9X0YT65S on 2008-07-28
  This is a big book dealing with molecular biology in considerable detail. It is organised in 24 chapters subdivided in small paragraphs each one dealing with a particular problem in molecular biology. The book covers the basics first and then deals with more specific matters like immunology, cancer, development, etc all seen from the molecular biologist point of view. Although the approach is purely mechanistic it uses a clear evolutionary orientation, well explained at the beginning of the book, that helps to give a dynamic framework to the whole subject. This is not a book to be read in only a few weeks but roughly a year's time, given the detail and amount of material exposed.
  
  
• academic publishing industry in need of reform
  By ARFLESOGLXAFD on 2008-04-08
  The publishers have made the 5th edition more "portable" by not printing the final 5 chapters of the book, but including them as electronic files on the DVD.
  
  The unprinted chapters are:
  21-Sexual Reproduction: Meiosis, Germ Cells, and Fertilization
  22-Development of Multicellular Organisms
  23-Specialized Tissues, Stem Cells, and Tissue Renewal
  24-Pathogens, Infection, and Innate Immunity
  25-The Adaptive Immune System
  
  With the 4th edition there were 25 printed chapters and 1616 pages: $5.68/printed chapter, or ~8.8 cents/page based on my calculations using list price info. With the regular 5th edition, 20 printed chapters, 1268 pages: $7.10/printed chapter, or ~11.2 cents/page. So the cost per page for this edition has increased by over 1/4 as compared to the last edition. Admittedly, I am a geek for actually doing these calculations.
  
  The chapters listed above are printed in the 5th reference edition (just not in this regular 5th edition), but as you might expect, the reference edition is a good bit pricier. I am giving the book 2 stars for content, because it really is a solid resource for learning molecular biology. However, with so many students carrying a heavy burden of debt by the time they graduate, it's a shame to see the continuing trend of rising prices for the best texts, making them just another contributor to the problems with education today. In this case the list price did not change between 4th and regular 5th editions, however I would argue that the "addition of portability" has decreased the value of this text.
  
  
• The single best cell biology book ever written
  By A1LJCB7RAWC9IH on 2010-03-09
  I am a biochemistry/biology grad student and I can tell you one thing: this is the single best cell biology book ever written. I used this book in multiple courses throughout my career, not only while in college, but also now I am a cell biology grad student. Since I started in college I have been using this book for looking up anything I came across regarding cell biology.
  
  Not only that, but I also recommended this book to my family when they told me they were interested in understanding what I was dedicating my life to. It was so easy to read, my father (who is an accountant) told me he would have loved a pocket version so he could finish reading it. Truly, MBOC is the bible for med/bio science majors. I've seen myself return to this book so many times during my career that I can't count them.
  
  The book is so great in many many ways. Figures are abundant, clear and concise (and you can even have them in CD, in Internet, Powerpoint, whatever!). Text is so precise and direct that you never have to go back and forth, back and forth reading previous chapters to understand new-ones. And bibliographic references. References are the most important thing in this book... they are so good, so carefully picked, they are really what makes this book a must-read even years after college.
  
  A friend of mine who majored in informatics and is now working in the bioinformatics field asked me to tell him what book should he buy, cause he was having serious trouble understanding the bio part of his work. I recommended Albert's text-book. And I nailed it. Truly, the book is both entry-level and expert-appeasing at the same time.
  
  However, this is a review for the 5th edition of this book, which I bought after my 4th edition book's covers tore apart. 5th edition is greater in every sense. They've updated everything, every chapter, and every reference. Even more, you have now more chapters, new figures, some chapters have been re-written to make them more understandable.
  
  Bruce Alberts is one of the greatest american cell biologists of our time. He and his collegues have compiled the best up-to-date biology text-book you can find. I seriously recommend buying this book if:
  - you are a bio/med major
  - you are going to work with something related to biology (like bioinformatics, biophysics, biomechanics, etc.)
  - you are interested in understading how nature works at the most simple organized level (aka the Cell)
  
  
  
• A Great Book
  By A2N94EOCGB31FU on 2008-11-29
  I like to read textbooks (a bit strange, I know...)
  I purchased this one about a week ago. I have read it almost every night since then. It's an incredibly detailed tour through the workings of the cell, with good illustrations and lucid explanations. Some background in chemistry and biology is assumed, but not as much as you might think - if you can pick things up quickly, you will have no problems even without a detailed knowledge of those areas. It has an overview of lab methods too, which is interesting.
  
  My only gripe is that the CD is stuck in the middle of the book, instead of in the back, which is a rather awkward arrangement. I took it out and put it in a case of its own. For the price, though, you'd think they could have put it in a plastic envelope in the back.
  
  Anyway, put it on your reading list, you won't regret it.
  
  
• the best on molecular biology
  By A292NS99FMRCQZ on 2008-09-29
  i don't normally write reviews, but after spending considerable time with Lodish, and now reading Alberts, I feel compelled to write one. Alberts is by far, the best book in molecular biology. I am an MD, who wants to enter the basic research area, and this books leads you into that field very smoothly. I am at the 400th page so far, and every concept blends seamlessly into the other. Lodish is good for classic experiments and things like that, but Alberts is a great mol bio basic textbook. I don't know how the next 800 pages are, but I have a very good feeling that they will be as good as the first 400. I strongly recommend this book for anybody who wants an introduction into mol bio and who wants to understand the basic concepts of mol bio. good luck!
  
  
• Extremely well done textbook
  By on 1999-07-11
  This book is the bible of cell biology. I continually find it to be well written, very thorough and extremely well illustrated. I am a PhD student in physiology and would consider this book to be one of the most indispensible books in my library. In fact, this is one of the few books I will pull off the shelf, open to some random page and just read.
  
  
• Better than Lodish
  By A1VUXZNX1OR26X on 2000-12-08
  This text by Alberts et al remains better than Molecular Cell Biology by Lodish et al. It is both comprehensive and clear to follow. It remains the standard for upper level undergraduate and first year graduate level courses. It is quite outdated, however, and a 4th edition is needed.
  
  
• A Fascinating Book of Molecular Cell Biology
  By A3IL0NUGLXO6CZ on 2008-04-21
  I have bought all previous editions and I have to recognize that each edition is better than the old one. This is a fascinating textbook that is clearly written and the authors do an excellent job explaining things, including superb illustrations. The DVD media is not so good. Highly recommended, especially for undergraduate students. However, at later stages of your career, these textbooks are largely irrelevant, as you will search for up-to-date articles and reviews.
  
  
• Bruce Alberts THE CELL
  By A121ZNZSIDSDXD on 2008-04-17
  In my opinion, this book is the "bible" of molecular and cell biology. The two main advantages I found were the easy way of reading and a good design and pictures.
  
  
• Bible of Cell Biology
  By A2RJWFBUP4FVGH on 2009-05-08
  This is the best book of cell biology. Although, I like Cooper's cell biology (but its good for beginners) as well as Lodish. But this book is the best of all (except the extra cellular matrix...which is explained better in Cooper).
  
  
• THE book for molecular biology
  By A3L7N70CHDZ1E9 on 2009-01-05
  This is, by far, the most well known and most widely used textbook for molecular biology; and there is a reason it is. This text is extremely comprehensive and covers just about every topic you can think of that is related to molecular biology/cytology. Although before you try to conquer this monster I recommend a firm background in biochemistry and/or molecular biology from a smaller book, as this book is very dense with facts and information and can be hard to comprehend if you aren't somewhat familiar with the material beforehand. My only real complaint about the book is that it is very heavy and the binding isn't that great after you use the book a lot. There are a lot of great figures and tables in the book which makes learning the material that much easier. If you are serious about molecular biology you can't get far without this book, definitely recommend you have a copy on your bookshelf!
  
  
• Media DVD
  By A2OOZIEYWVANDH on 2008-04-19
  The book is great, the media DVD not so much. appartently quicktime does not support flash anymore so some of the videos can't be seen. Garland science offers a web page where these videos can be found. nevertheless such things should be forseen when one is selling a $140 item.
  
  
• This book is one of the best books I have ever read.
  By AW6SFRCLVYF46 on 2000-05-26
  I am studying mathematics and computer science, but love biology very much. In Russia I bought Russian translation of the 2nd ed of this book. It was in three volumes. It was so beautiful to read that I couldn't stop even when I had to prepare for the (math) exams. The book provides the Big Picture of the subject, is scientifically deep and up-to-date, and is easily understandable for a (educated) non-specialist. It has plenty of extraordinary illustrations. The authors, editors and translators, thank you all very much!
  
  
• The BEST Cell biology/Molecular text book Ever!!
  By on 1999-07-18
  I have use this book for both undergraduate and graduate classes. Simply the best text I have ever owned!
  
  
• This is a bible for all biology majoring students
  By A2L1T2NLR2E91 on 1999-12-15
  The content in this book is well up to date, and almost all the fundumental knoledge about biology, not only molucular biology, are available. The diagrams shown here are very comprehensible and clear. This book helps all the people who is majoring biology-oriented fields, from beginneres to experts! Buy one!
  
  
• A classic that deserves it's cache
  By A1MJMYLRTZ76ZX on 2010-08-15
  As a neurobiologist whose forte isn't molecular biology I was looking for a book that wouldn't be too daunting but still had some rigor. Well, this book was probably a bit more to bite off than I had intended, but it's obviously a great work and one of the greatest texts on this subject. My only real background in molecular biology being the couple of virology courses I took, I was most interested in those chapters, and also the material on oncogenes and oncoviruses. For that it served very well, although there is of course more here than just virology.
  
  I found the coverage excellent and often a bit beyond my technical level, but not markedly so. A good text should stretch your mind a bit and this book certainly did that. I'm no expert here but I found the book's coverage of all the main topics quite complete. Although not for the faint hearted, it's well written, well organized, and interesting. If you can get thru this impressive volume you'll be in pretty good shape especially if this really isn't your field as in my case.
  
  
• Molecular Biology of the Cell
  By ANSKMPTHSGB61 on 2009-03-11
  The book "Molecular Biology of the Cell" by Alberts et al. was a great deal for me, for I was able to acquire a great updated reference book in paperback at a most reasonable price. I was surprised to see that the last five chapters of the book were not on paper but rather on a disc to be downloaded. I had no idea that this would be the case, but I can get around this minor inconvenience. I am planning on purchasing the companion book on "Problems in MBOC". Thank you very much for the great deals you offer on good books in the biological sciences.
  
  
• Amazing Book!!!!!!
  By A2RL6GWLOVRF9A on 2008-11-04
  This book is so clear and full of good information. I use it as a reference book for classes. It goes into great detail but not overly so. I recommend this book to any cellular/molecular biology student or faculty.
  
  
• A very good book, though a new edition is urgently needed!
  By on 1999-06-22
  Please, Doctor Alberts, please, Doctor Watson, please, please, please, have mercy on all us postgraduating students!!! Make us a new edition of this formidable book, real soon!!!
  
  

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