Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents : Chemistry,energy,and metabolism -- Enzymes -- The structure of proteins -- The cell membrane: a structure depending only on weak force -- Digestion and absorption of food -- Preliminary outline of fuel distribution and utilization by the different tissues of the body -- Biochemical mechanisms involved in food transport,storage,and mobilization -- Energy release from foodstuffs-a preliminary overview -- Glycolysis,the citric acid cycle,and the electron transport system: reactions involved in these pathways -- Energy releases from fat -- A switch from catabolic to anabolic metabolism -first,the synthesis of fat and related compounds in the body -- Synthesis of glucose (gluconeogenesis) -- Strategies for metabolic control and their application to carbohydrate and fat metabolism -- Why should there be an alternative pathway of glucose oxidation - the pentose phoshate pathway? -- Raising electrons of water back up the energy scale-photosynthesis -- Amino acid metabolism -- Cellular disposal of unwanted molecules -- Enzymic protective mechanisms in the body -- Nucleotide metabolism -- DNA-its structure and arrangement in cells -- DNA synthesis and repair -- Gene transcription - the first step in the mechanism by which genes direct protein synthesis -- Eukaryotic gene transcription and control -- Protein synthesis -- How are newly synthesized proteins delivered to their correct destinations? -protein targeting -- Cell signalling -- The immune system -- Viruses and viriods -- Gene cloning,recombinant DNA technology genetic engineering -- Molecular biology of cancer -- The red blood cell and the role of hemoglobin -- Muscle contraction -- The cytoskeleton,molecular motors,and intracellular transport.