Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K. and Walter, P. Molecular biology of the cell. 4th edn. (2003)

First edition, 1983; 2nd edition, 1989; 3rd edition, 1994; 4th edition, 2002. Any book that appears in so many editions in such a relatively short space of time must be doing something right. And so it is, for Molecular Biology of the Cell (‘MBoC’ as the authors refer to it) is arguably setting the pace—and the standard—that other textbooks on the subject must aspire to. Although not familiar with the previous incarnations of MBoC, I do note that the line‐up has changed for the present edition: Dennis Bray and James D. Watson have been ‘replaced’ by Johnson and Walter. The line‐up may have changed, but the message is apparently the same: to continue to provide an up‐to‐date review of all that is important, and/or new, in the fast‐changing area of the molecular biology of the cell, and to present it in an accessible way.

This fourth edition of MBoC (MBoC4) is arranged into five sections: ‘Introduction to the cell’ (three chapters); ‘Basic genetic mechanisms’ (four chapters); ‘Methods’ (two chapters); ‘Internal organization of the cell’ (nine chapters); and ‘Cells in their social context’ (seven chapters, including a new one: ‘Pathogens, infection, and innate immunity’). Throughout the book the emphasis is on getting the message(s) across in a user‐friendly way. To that end, much use is made of multicoloured images, whether tables, diagrams of cells and cell processes, or micrographs. Since cell biology is nothing if not a very visual subject, the inclusion of a CD‐ROM—‘Cell Biology Interactive’—with the purchase price of the book is to be applauded. The CD is relatively easy to load onto one’s computer and contains many video clips, animations, molecular structures and electron micrographs (unfortunately, almost all of animal cells), which are designed to illustrate features mentioned in the book, and demonstrate some of the recent, exciting new discoveries concerning the inner working of cells and the molecules they contain. I haven’t tried all the items on the CD, but on the few I sampled I did note that sound quality for the narrations was not consistent, and that there was a tendency for the final words of an item to be garbled/lost. However, more irritating is the apparent absence of any information regarding the size/magnification of animations of cellular events and of the speed of the animation (the better to appreciate the real scale at which these processes take place). No doubt future editions (and there will be a need for more as progress in these areas continues apace) will correct these shortcomings.

From a botanical point of view, plant cells are covered in MBoC4, but not as a separate chapter. This may be because plant and animal cells should be considered as variants of one theme, and the authors are right not to create artificial distinctions between them. However, there are enough ‘odd features’ associated with plants that one expects them to be treated as a class apart, if only to make the point that much of what we ‘know’ about cells has been gleaned from a very limited number of animal cells. It may well be the case that plant cells do not always do what we might predict on the basis of animal studies (as in the case of the cytoskeleton, which shows major differences between plants and animals); but this is probably a minor quibble.

From a teaching point of view (surely the main way that a textbook should be judged?), MBoC4 should appeal to both students and teachers: there is abundant use of colour (making the book eye‐catching and ‘modern’); the text is liberally scattered with summaries (excellent for highlighting the main points); explanatory figures abound; and use is made of the reinforcing device of breaking down topics into small sections and starting each with a definite statement, which is then supported by the succeeding text. As an undergraduate text in molecular biology of the cell, it probably has everything that you could want.

The preface tells me that rapid and far‐reaching advances in genomics have resulted in major overhauls of Chapter 1 on ‘Cells and genomes’, the four chapters on ‘Basic genetic mechanisms’, and that on manipulating proteins, DNA and RNA, so distinguishing this edition from its predecessors. Whether this, plus the CD (whose animations really are quite impressive), will encourage owners of MBoC3 to upgrade to MBoC4 is for individuals to decide. But for newcomers to the book, there is plenty in MBoC4 to justify the investment (even if you just want to skim through the book and be dazzled by the beauty of some of the illustrations!).

Finally, there is an amusing homage to the Beatles’ album ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts’ Club Band’ on the back of MBoC4. And, at the risk of being controversial, I predict that one day MBoC will be even more famous than the Fab Four themselves.