This is an important textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in structural biology, chemistry, biochemistry, biology and medicine. Written by a team of leading scientists in the field, it covers all the essential aspects of proteins, nucleic acids and lipids, including the rise and fall of proteins, membranes and gradients, the structural biology of cells, and evolution -- the comparative structural biology. The focus is on interesting and relevant molecular structures as well as central biology.

This comprehensive volume is richly illustrated with more than 200 color figures. So far, there has been a lack of comprehensive textbooks on structural biology that are up to date; this book is written to fill the gap. An accompanying CD contains high-resolution images that can be projected in a classroom.

Contents: Introduction; Basics of Protein Structure; Basics of Nucleic Acid Structure; The Basics of Lipids and Membrane Structure; Enzymes; Metabolism of DNA: Replication and Recombination; Transcription; Protein Synthesis Translation; Protein Folding and Degradation; Membrane Proteins; Signal Transduction; Cell Motility and Transport; Structural Aspects of Cell Cell Interactions; The Immune System; Virus Structure and Function; Structural Biology and the Evolution of Biomacromolecules; Appendices: Bonds and Energetics of Macromolecules; Methods for Fold Comparison; Prediction of Protein Conformation; Assignment of Function to Proteins; Protein Modification; Nobel Laureates.