"A text for a short first course in molecular biology. Treatment takes a layering approach, where complexity is developed chapter by chapter rather than presented all at once. Includes chapter summaries, drill questions, problems, and conceptual questions, plus simple two-color diagrams. This third edition retains brevity of presentation and emphasis on fundamentals, and adds improved prose, updated material, margin terms, and key concepts. Material is reorganized in this edition in four sections on the structure of proteins, nucleic acids, and macromolecules; functions of macromolecules; coordination of macromolecular function in cells; and experimental manipulation of macromolecules." 

--Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR 

"I read this book at the library and was highly impressed with the mode of explanation and representation. The book is highly informative giving the explanation with the best lucid way and the figures too are at the right places... All in one it is a very useful book to be obtained by the biologists working on the field. "

-- Vishal Shah

"With so much new in the field of molecular biology, Malacinski's latest edition comes none too soon. No other scientific discipline has experienced such rapid and unprecedented growth; and the field has become so broad that it now impacts virtually every area of life science. Key features of this text are what the author calls the "layering approach," with complexity developed chapter by chapter, and an increased emphasis on critical thinking. Also one of the better features is the brevity of presentation and a focus on macromolecular structure and function, both of which should appeal greatly to undergraduate students. The book is written at a level that makes it an excellent choice for an introductory course, leaving out the endless details and depth of materials not necessary for its intended audience. That is better left to books geared toward graduate students and researchers needing a greater scope of information. From the opening page that welcomes readers to the world of molecular biology to molecular structure and DNA to the experimental manipulation of macromolecules, Essentials of Molecular Biology is a fantastic one-semester course that includes everything students will need to prepare themselves for more advanced study. And because Malacinski's book contains so much in terms of basic concepts, instructors in other disciplines may want to keep it handy as a reference guide. This is one terrific book for instructors wanting to offer students a concise and well-written text on a subject that is fast reaching explosive growth."

 -- John Overton
Book Review Editor
Life Science Book Review

“Concise information in text and good diagrams and illustrations of concepts.”

-- Dr. Margaret Jonah
Assoc. Professor of Biology Dominican University
River Forest, IL