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Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations, Sixth Edition. Thomas M. Devlin, ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Liss, John Wiley & Sons, 2006, 1208 pp., $115.00, Hardcover. ISBN 0-471-67808-2.

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

This is the sixth and substantially revised edition of a textbook that has already earned an important role as a teaching guide in biochemistry. The book focuses very specifically on eukaryotic biochemistry, with emphasis on mammalian systems, because of the importance of understanding biochemistry as it pertains to human disease. This textbook is designed to fulfill the requirements of most upper level undergraduate and graduate level courses in biochemistry and physiological chemistry.

The text is broken down into 5 main sections that cover the areas of macromolecular structure, transmission of information including translational and transcriptional events, protein function, metabolic pathways and their control, and physiological processes. These 5 sections are broken down further to generate a total of 28 chapters, each of which is written by an expert in that particular field; taken together, the chapters cover the entire area of eukaryote biochemistry. New sections have been introduced that cover the recently expanded areas of signal transduction, the cell cycle, apoptosis, and cancer.

Each chapter is interspersed with several clinical correlations that are related to that particular section. For instance, the chapter covering the process of DNA repair describes the DNA-repair disease xeroderma pigmentosum in sufficient detail that the reader begins to get a feel for how the basic biochemistry relates to the disease. These correlations are found throughout the text, and although the correlates are not presented in a fully comprehensive manner, they clearly direct the reader’s interest toward understanding how the biochemistry provides a basis for understanding the disease. Sufficient references are provided so that the interested student can look further into the literature on the diseases. By introducing the student to a better understanding of the biochemical mechanisms of the diseases, these correlations may also lead to defining rational therapeutic interventions. In my own specialist area of lipid metabolism, deficiencies of the fatty acid metabolizing acyl-CoA dehydrogenases are defined as a group of diseases that may be potentially treatable with a combination of dietary manipulation and prevention of fasting, because these are essentially diseases of fasting intolerance.

At the end of each chapter, there is a quiz, so the student may self-evaluate as a learning guide. The answers to the quizzes are also provided at the end of each chapter. These answers might have been better placed elsewhere in the volume, where they might be less accessible.

In the rapidly progressing field of biochemistry, the bibliographies of all of the chapters have been updated since the last edition, to maintain continuity.

The textbook has ample and well-colored diagrams throughout that are of the highest quality. The diagrams provide a very important aid to understanding what are frequently complicated mechanisms and pathways.

This is an excellent teaching volume, which could readily be used not only by undergraduates and graduate students but also by fellows in clinical chemistry training programs. At $115, this book represents very good value for money.

This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Submit an electronic Letter to the Editor about this paper Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bennett, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Bennett, M. J.