Becker's World of the Cell

Jeff Hardin is Professor and Chair of the Zoology Department at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. He is also Faculty Director of the Biology Core Curriculum, a four-semester honors biology sequence for undergraduates at Wisconsin known for its teaching innovations. Jeff’s research interests center on how cells migrate and adhere to one another to change the shape of animal embryos. Jeff’s teaching is enhanced by his extensive use of digital microscopy and his Web-based teaching materials, which are used on many campuses in the United States and other countries. As part of his interest in teaching biology, Jeff has received several awards, including a Lily Teaching Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, and a Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Gregory Bertoni has been active in teaching, research, and scientific writing for over 30 years. He earned a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin—Madison with Wayne Becker, where his research investigated the effects of light quality and carbon dioxide concentration on photorespiratory gene expression. His teaching experiences include introductory and graduate-level biochemistry, sophomore cell biology, and plant physiology. At Madison, he and Wayne helped to develop a new course entitled “Ways of Knowing” designed to introduce entering freshmen to the learning process itself. His published research includes studies in bacterial pathogenesis, plant-microbe interactions, and plant gene expression. Currently, Gregory is a Science Editor for The Plant Cell, a leading international research journal in plant cell and molecular biology, for which he assists authors in preparing manuscripts and files for publication. His duties include communicating with authors around the world to ensure that published papers are accurate and accessible to both general and expert readers. In addition, he has written numerous one-page summaries for the journal front matter to highlight key research articles. For the past 12 years, Gregory has been teaching biology, chemistry, and microbiology part-time at the community college level, mostly for nursing training, and is currently at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland, Maine. He is also a freelance scientific writer who contributes to text- and web-based projects in biology, physics, and microbiology. His hobbies include hiking, gardening, and growing certified organic seedlings for A Good Start, a small business founded by him and his wife Marianne Potter in 2003.

1.     A Preview of Cell Biology

2.     The Chemistry of the Cell

3.     The Macromolecules of the Cell

4.     Cells and Organelles

5.     Bioenergetics: The Flow of Energy in the Cell

6.     Enzymes: The Catalysts of Life

7.     Membranes: Their Structure, Function, and Chemistry

8.     Transport Across Membranes: Overcoming the Permeability Barrier

9.     Chemotrophic Energy Metabolism: Glycolysis and Fermentation

10.  Chemotrophic Energy Metabolism: Aerobic Respiration

11.  Phototrophic Energy Metabolism: Photosynthesis

12.  The Endomembrane System 

13.  Cytoskeletal Systems

14.  Cellular Movement: Motility and Contractility

15.  Beyond the Cell: Cell Adhesions, Cell Junctions, and Extracellular Structures

16.  The Structural Basis of Cellular Information: DNA, Chromosomes, and Genome Organization

17.  DNA Replication, Repair, and Recombination

18.  Gene Expression I: The Genetic Code and Transcription

19.  Gene Expression II: Protein Synthesis and Sorting

20.  Regulation of Gene Expression

21.  Molecular Biology Techniques for Cell Biology

22.  Signal Transduction Mechanisms I: Electrical and Synaptic Signaling in Neurons

23.  Signal Transduction Mechanisms II: Messengers and Receptors

24.  The Cell Cycle and Mitosis

25.  Sexual Reproduction, Meiosis, and Genetic Recombination

26.  Cancer Cells




Appendix – Visualizing Cells and Molecules
Glossary
Photo, Illustration, and Text Credits
Index