The fast pace of modern molecular biology research is driven by intellectual curiosity and major challenges
in medicine, agriculture, and industry. No discipline in biology has ever experienced the explosion in
growth and popularity that molecular biology is now undergoing. There is intense public interest in the
Human Genome Project and genetic engineering, due in part to fascination with how our own genes
influence our lives. With this fast pace of discovery, it has been difficult to find a suitable, up-to-date
textbook for a course in molecular biology. Other textbooks in the field fall into two categories: they are
either too advanced, comprehensive, and overwhelmingly detailed, with enough material to fill an entire
year or more of lectures, or they are too basic, superficial, and less experimental in their approach. It is
possible to piece together literature for a molecular biology course by assigning readings from a variety of
sources.
