Tools and Techniques of Cell Biology

The evolution of modern cells is arguably the most challenging and important problem the field of biology has ever faced. In Darwin's day the problem could hardly be imagined. For much of the 20th century it was intractable. In any case, the problem lay buried in the catch-all rubric “origin of life”—where, because it is a biological not a (bio)chemical problem, it was effectively ignored. Scientific interest in cellular evolution started to pick up once the universal phylogenetic tree, the framework within which the problem had to be addressed, was determined. But it was not until microbial genomics arrived on the scene that biologists could actually do much about the problem of cellular evolution. This book introduces the general reader and the specialist to the study and analysis of cellular structure and function. This book reflects in par the recent resurgence of interest in the study of cell biology. (jacket)