Molecular Biology of the Gene, Fifth Edition |  | Authors: James D. Watson, Tania A. Baker, Stephen P. Bell, Alexander Gann, Michael Levine, Richard Losick
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Category: Book
List Price: $129.00
Buy Used: $36.00
as of 9/7/2010 23:04 CDT details
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Seller: Turtle Bacon Books
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 57,514
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 5th
Pages: 830
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.8 x 1
ISBN: 080534635X
Dewey Decimal Number: 572.8
EAN: 9780805346350
ASIN: 080534635X
Publication Date: December 3, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The long-awaited new edition of James D. Watson's classic text, Molecular Biology of the Gene, has been thoroughly revised and is published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick's paper on the structure of the DNA double-helix. Twenty-one concise chapters, co-authored by five highly respected molecular biologists, provide current, authoritative coverage of a fast-changing discipline, giving both historical and basic chemical context. Divided into four parts: Genetics and Chemistry, Central Dogma, Regulation, and Methods. For college instructors, students, and anyone interested in molecular biology and genetics.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 Readable and Thorough, An Excellent Reference July 12, 2005
Edward F. Strasser (Long Island, NY)
40 out of 42 found this review helpful
I am a layman with a serious interest in biology. I read science news, especially in Nature and Scientific American, and I often find that I don't have enough background to understand articles at the level at which I want to understand them. I bought this book hoping to get that background, and I wasn't disappointed.
For example, once the human genome was sequenced, it appeared that there were far too few genes for an organism as complex as ourselves. But investigation shows that most genes occur in segments and that the messenger RNA must be cut and spliced before the protein can be formed. Often there are two or more ways the RNA may be spliced, so that one gene can specify more than one protein. Another problem is that the genome seemed to consist mostly of sections that don't code for proteins; these were called "junk". But it turns out that some "junk" DNA codes for RNA sequences that have catalytic and regulatory roles, roles which used to be considered the bailiwick of proteins alone. Articles about topics such as these used to confuse me thoroughly, but after reading this book I find them much clearer.
This book benefits from a great many illustrations and I recommend that you go through each one as you would a worked problem in a math text. Observe how the pieces fit together, how a particular group of atoms enhances or inhibits a reaction. The practice will help you to understand other things you will read later.
I called this a "reference" for good reason: I assume that I will come across many future articles which will send me back to it to fill in some background.
[Added 4 July 2006] As I assumed when I first wrote this review, I have used it for reference. I have read several books about what I call "enhanced evolution", where mechanisms that go beyond simple point mutations speed up evolution by providing more variation. For example, gene regulation, alternate splicing, and gene duplication all play important roles. I have surprised myself by remembering more than I expected to (thanks to the clarity of this book) but I have still used it for clarification.
Am Studying for the Biochemistry GRE - This book is golden September 18, 2006
J. Elliott (Atlanta)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I got this book to assist for my prep for the Biochemistry GRE - I know a lot about Biology. So this is a great Book - First, It is very readable - I was surprised I was not able to put it down and knocked off 100 pages in record time. Besided that - it is enjoyable and not dull and boring - Second, The great experiments are given and insight into the science reasoning behind them also. This book makes the discover of genetics, DNA, RNA and protein building come alive. Third, this book is very current with research and cites the papers and journals where the important biology, Genetic, molecular & cell biology was published. That alone would save you the time to research and site these for your own research. Lastly, the pictures and recollections of the experimenters and "who knew who" are a total hoot.
Great Book March 17, 2006
R. Literman
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
This book is an awesome teaching guide but the real prize goes to the CD and animations. Where a subject might be a bit hazy in the text, the flash animations on the CD are clear and concise.
"A Scientific Explanation of What Life Is" November 18, 2007
Russell A. Rohde MD (West Covina, California USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
"Molecular Biology of the Gene," James Watson et. al, 5th Edition, CSHL Press, NY 2004, ISBN 0-8053-4635-X, HC 732 pages, includes Preface, Index & inter-active CD-ROM & Website. 11 1/4" x 8 3/4".
J.D. Watson authored first three editions (1965-'76), co-authored 4th ('87) & this 5th ('04) with Baker, Bell, Gann, Levine & Losick. CD works in Windows, but Mac OS X needs Classic for some sections (CHIME). This treatise has 21 chapters divided into 5 major parts: I-Chem.& Genetics, II-Genome Maintenance, III-Genome Expression, IV-Regulation and V-Methodologies.
The discourse best assumes readers to have both core & some advanced study in biology, chemistry, physics & genetics. It is a tutorial & reference manual with detailed covering of history of genetics, Mendelian heredity, elucidation & clarificaion of double helix, Crick's central dogma 1956, genetic code, weak & high-energy bonds, protein structure, conformation, modularity & domains, allostery, topologies, RNA structure, chromosomal sequence & diversity, duplication, chromatin structure & regulation, nucleosome assembly, DNA polymerase, binding & unwinding, replication error & repairs, DNA damage, recombination, transposition, transciption, splicings, shuffling, ribosomes, gene regulation in pro- & eu-karyotes, embryogenesis of Drosophila, genome evolution & methodologies for phage, bacteria, yeast, fly & mouse.
A formidable and now classic text fittingly entrusted to an elite working group in the US, UK and Canada. Most comforting is the liberal use of diagrams on essentially every page & the interactive CD.
Good book November 4, 2005
E Schauberger
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
Some books are just very well written-this is one of them!
I like that they leave space in the margin to write notes. Organized more like a book you can read in chapters compared to the Lewin Genes text. Concise and up to date.
Good disc included with lots of great animations.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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