A Guided Tour of the Living Cell Vol 2 Author:Christian De Duve In the 2 volume set of 'A Guided Tour of the Living Cell', Christian de Duve invites us to accompany him on an engrossing, beautifully illustrated expedition through a world far removed from everyday experience yet vital to our very being. It is the world of the trillions of cells that make up the human body. A bold but reassuring guide,... more » de Duve puts the wisdom and knowledge gained from a lifetime of research at our service with his narrative, nontechnical, and often anecdotal style.
The journey is divided into three different itineraries. In the first, we examine a cell's outer and inner membranes, their intricate foldings and their two-way commerce with the exterior. In the second itinerary, we call at all the major organelles - the cell's own organs - and observe them transforming energy and manufacturing their own special products. As we watch the ribosomes in action, we are introduced to biological information transfer and the molecules that support it - the nucleic acids.
Our third itinerary takes us into the nucleus itself, where we see the genes in action and the chromosomes undergoing complex transformations in mitosis and meiosis. As the orderly cataclysm of cell division reaches its climax, we take advantage of the turmoil to make our final exit. Having presented us with the most up-to-date view of the living cell, de Duve addresses some key biological problems, including the origin of life, the mechanism of evolution, and cancer.
Volume 2 contains Membranes in Action, The Nexus of Metabolism, and Ribosomes from Itinerary II and all of Itinerary III.« less