The Cell Cycle: An Introduction

In the last decade there has been a revolution in our comprehension of how cells grow and divide. Results from experiments on yeast, embryos, and cultured mammalian cells have unified seemingly disparate viewpoints into a single set of principles for normal cellular reproduction in plants, animals and bacteria. Written by two leading participants in that revolution, The Cell Cycle provides the first thorough, authoritative account of the new philosophy of normal cellular reproduction and how it emerged. It is a vivid portrayal of the molecular logic of the cell: how the cell engine induces DNA replication and chromosome replication; how the integrity of genetic information is preserved; and how cell size and environmental signals regulate the cycle of growth and division. By describing important breakthroughs in their historical and experimental context, The Cell Cycle traces the development of the new vision of cell biology and shows its relevance to other areas of modern biology. It is the ideal introduction to the current understanding of cell growth and division for advanced undergraduate and graduate level cell biology courses.

Table of Contents:
1: Cells and the Cell Cycle 2: The Early Embryonic Cell Cycle 3: Genetic Analysis of the Cell Cycle 4: Enzymes That Control Mitosis 5: Mitosis 6: The Transition From G1 to S Phase 7: The Control of DNA Replication 8: Checkpoints and Feedback Controls 9: Cancer 10: The Meiotic Cell Cycle 11: The Bacterial Cell Cycle

About the Author :
Andrew Murray is Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Tim Hunt is at ICRF Clare Hall Laboratories, Hertfordshire, UK, and is Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Cambridge University.

Review :
"[If] you want to know something about the cell cycle, then this is the book for you...will certainly continue to be of immediate use and relevance for both undergraduate and postgraduate students."--Genetwork "Short and highly readable. The book contains excellent and plentiful illustrations. This is a very useful overview of our current understanding of the cell cycle....Refreshing and stimulating." --Science "A very useful book, which will be widely welcomed....This book is different in two respects. Firstly, it concentrates almost entirely on the recent discoveries about the molecular biology of the cycle with only some of the earlier work briefly sketched in. Secondly, it is designed as a student textbook in the pattern of other modern textbooks....The writing is excellent - crisp and clear....If you are going to teach a course on the cell cycle concentrating on the recent molecular approaches, this is the book for you." -- BioEssays "A marvellous introduction to the cell cycle and its control, one needed especially in view of the recent remarkable advances in this area. There are carefully selected references at the end of each chapter, many very useful line drawings, and an excellent appendix describing 418 genes that affect the cell cycle. Highly recommended." --Choice "Bravely attempts to summarize recent discoveries about the role of cyclin-dependent kinases....The list of yeast cell cycle genes at the end of the book will be of enormous value to everyone. The pictures throughout the book are also superb.... Murray and Hunt's book will be a useful addition to your library. It lays out quite clearly many of the key problems that preoccupy current researchers of the cell cycle." -- Cell "This is the first book for many years that aims at a comprehensive coverage of the cell cycle. As such, it is the first to deal with the exciting new discoveries of the last decade....The book is aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and will no doubt be a great success in this market....The authors do a good job...of simplifying and rationalizing the sometimes complex material....I have used this book as a source of material for undergraduate teaching, and have recommended it (highly) to third and fourth year undergraduates....I would additionally recommend the book...to researchers who are new to the cell cycle....Even for many of us with a background in the cell cycle, the book contains clear reviews of areas other than our own pet research topics....I look forward to a second edition in due course." --Peter Fantes, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, Edinburgh, UK, TIBS "An excellent comprehensive survey on the cell cycle. I will definitley use it in my Cell Biology class."--Kent R Thomas, PhD, Kansas Newman College "If you want to know something about the cell cycle, then this book is for you. . .may offer fundamental insights into a complex problem, and will certainly continue to be of immediate use and relevance for both undergraduate and postgraduate students." --Genetwork "This book creates an integrated approach to thinking about the cell cycle, rather than proceeding chronologically through its stages . . . . Throughout the book, estimates on how far we have come on the road to enlightenment and the most important unanswered questions about the cell cycle are provided."--Nucleic Acids Abstracts "A superb book and would make as good an introduction to the field as one could hope for . . . . occupies an unusual niche in that it presents science at a serious but not burdensome level."--American Journal of Human Genetics "[If] you want to know something about the cell cycle, then this is the book for you...will certainly continue to be of immediate use and relevance for both undergraduate and postgraduate students."--Genetwork "Short and highly readable. The book contains excellent and plentiful illustrations. This is a very useful overview of our current understanding of the cell cycle....Refreshing and stimulating." --Science "A very useful book, which will be widely welcomed....This book is different in two respects. Firstly, it concentrates almost entirely on the recent discoveries about the molecular biology of the cycle with only some of the earlier work briefly sketched in. Secondly, it is designed as a student textbook in the pattern of other modern textbooks....The writing is excellent - crisp and clear....If you are going to teach a course on the cell cycle concentrating on the recent molecular approaches, this is the book for you." -- BioEssays "A marvellous introduction to the cell cycle and its control, one needed especially in view of the recent remarkable advances in this area. There are carefully selected references at the end of each chapter, many very useful line drawings, and an excellent appendix describing 418 genes that affect the cell cycle. Highly recommended." --Choice "Bravely attempts to summarize recent discoveries about the role of cyclin-dependent kinases....The list of yeast cell cycle genes at the end of the book will be of enormous value to everyone. The pictures throughout the book are also superb....Murray and Hunt's book will be a useful addition to your library. It lays out quite clearly many of the key problems that preoccupy current researchers of the cell cycle."-- Cell "This is the first book for many years that aims at a comprehensive coverage of the cell cycle. As such, it is the first to deal with the exciting new discoveries of the last decade....The book is aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and will no doubt be a great success in this market....The authors do a good job...of simplifying and rationalizing the sometimes complex material....I have used this book as a source of material for undergraduate teaching, and have recommended it (highly) to third and fourth year undergraduates....I would additionally recommend the book...to researchers who are new to the cell cycle....Even for many of us with a background in the cell cycle, the book contains clear reviews of areas other than our own pet research topics....I look forward to a second edition in due course." --Peter Fantes, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, Edinburgh, UK, TIBS "An excellent comprehensive survey on the cell cycle. I will definitley use it in my Cell Biology class."--Kent R Thomas, PhD, Kansas Newman College "If you want to know something about the cell cycle, then this book is for you. . .may offer fundamental insights into a complex problem, and will certainly continue to be of immediate use and relevance for both undergraduate and postgraduate students." --Genetwork "This book creates an integrated approach to thinking about the cell cycle, rather than proceeding chronologically through its stages . . . . Throughout the book, estimates on how far we have come on the road to enlightenment and the most important unanswered questions about the cell cycle are provided."--Nucleic Acids Abstracts "A superb book and would make as good an introduction to the field as one could hope for . . . . occupies an unusual niche in that it presents science at a serious but not burdensome level."--American Journal of Human Genetics "A clearly written, up-to-date overview of the cell cycle and the factors which affect it. This book should be required reading in every upper division cell biology course. A superb effort!"-- Professor Raymond E. Waldner, Palm Beach Atlantic College "Very readable; it makes an unusually complicated and rapidly evolving story understandable."--Professor A.P. Mahowald, University of Chicago.