Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain how the binding of a ligand initiates signal transduction throughout a cellRecognize the role of phosphorylation in the transmission of intracellular signalsEvaluate the role of second messengers in signal transmission

Life as an emergent property of networks of chemical reactions involving proteins and nucleic acids. Mathematical theories of metabolism, gene regulation, signal transduction, chemotaxis, excitability, motility, mitosis, development, and immunity. Applications to directed molecular evolution, DNA computing, and metabolic and genetic engineering.

Covers cells and tissues of the immune system, lymphocyte development, the structure and function of antigen receptors, the cell biology of antigen processing and presentation including molecular structure and assembly of MHC molecules, lymphocyte activation, the biology of cytokines, leukocyte-endothelial interactions, and the pathogenesis of immunologically mediated diseases. Consists of lectures and tutorials in which clinical cases are discussed with faculty tutors. Details of the case covering a number of immunological issues in the context of disease are posted on a student Web site.

This seminar-format course provides an in-depth presentation and discussion of how engineering and biological approaches can be combined to solve problems in science and technology, emphasizing integration of biological information and methodologies with engineering analysis, synthesis, and design. Emphasis is placed on molecular mechanisms underlying cellular processes, including signal transduction, gene expression networks, and functional responses.

This is a seminar based on research literature. Papers covered are selected to illustrate important problems and approaches in the field of computational and systems biology, and provide students a framework from which to evaluate new developments. The MIT Initiative in Computational and Systems Biology (CSBi) is a campus-wide research and education program that links biology, engineering, and computer science in a multidisciplinary approach to the systematic analysis and modeling of complex biological phenomena. This course is one of a series of core subjects offered through the CSB Ph.D. program, for students with an interest in interdisciplinary training and research in the area of computational and systems biology.