Principles of Medical Biochemistry: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access by Gerhard Meisenberg, William H. Simmons

• Expanded coverage of molecular genetics, genome structure, and the molecular basis of genetic disease.
  
• Discussions of gene therapy and germline gene modifications.
  
• Information on molecular carcinogenesis, apoptosis, and signaling pathways.
  
• Superb new page design with full color illustrations
  
• Online version via the STUDENT CONSULT website with USMLE test questions and integration links

Anatoly Bezkorovainy

This is a medical biochemistry text. It is writtenfor the medical and possibly other health sciences students. Thispurpose has been achieved; the book emphasizes physiological andtherapeutic/diagnostic aspects of the material, and I have observed fewif any mechanisms from an organic chemist's point of view. Theaudience is students of medicine, veterinary science, podiatry, etc.,and even undergraduates preparing themselves for medical school. Thisbook is quite appropriate for them; it is written at the appropriatelevel and contains material of significance for this type of anaudience. I noted few significant omissions. The authors have done agood job. There is a glossary of terms, which is helpful. The indexand table of contents are adequate. There are numerous illustrationsusing various shades of blue and gray. These are useful and adequate. The soft cover has a nice/attractive design on it. The medical studentshould be able to afford this book. There are some questions at theend of each chapter, most of them multiple choice. If the purpose ofthese questions is to review the material or to test the student'sknowledge, the number of such questions is woefully inadequate. Otherwise, the book is fun to read and I would recommend it as a textfor medical biochemistry. On the other hand, there are now so manysuch books on the market that it is hard to see how this one issuperior to most of them (e.g., Roskoski'Biochemistry (WB Saunders, 1996) orChampe/Harvey's Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews:Biochemistry, 2nd edition (JB Lippincott1994).

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Eugene A Davidson, PhD (Georgetown University School of Medicine)
Description:This is intended to serve as a text for a course in medical biochemistry. Topical coverage reflects what is usually taught. The first edition was published in 1998.
Purpose:The goal is to provide a slimmed-down version of a biochemistry text that will be more accessible to medical students. Given the encyclopedic nature of standard texts in this area, this is a worthwhile objective. This book can be considered a partial success.
Audience:The target audience is the student taking medical biochemistry. The level seems about correct but the material could be readily managed by most senior undergraduates. The authors have had experience in teaching this material in a medical school environment.
Features:Texts most often cited/suggested/assigned for student use in a medical biochemistry course are large compendia, frequently a thousand pages or more, lavishly illustrated and possessing far more information than needed. This book represents an effort to edit down the material, thus allowing the student to focus on essential items. The organization of the book presumably follows the courses taught in the home institution of the authors, starting with structural considerations, followed by discussions of information flow, cell and tissue organization, and metabolism. Each chapter has a few multiple choice questions (answers at the end of the book) and a short supplemental reading list. The latter could not be considered bibliographic and would short change the student interested in more detailed knowledge. There is a reasonably completeglossary and a useful index. Although thorough knowledge of the contents would serve most students, there is little challenge in the text, a problem especially true for the study questions. Clinical relevance is occasional and somewhat insufficient given the trend towards greater integration of clinical and basic science material. The goal of content reduction is good, but this effort only partially succeeds.
Assessment:This is a moderate effort to solve a real problem. Organization of the material is not optimal and opportunities for clinical integration are missed. New information in the last eight years does justify a new edition.

Rating

3 Stars from Doody