Abstract
The third edition of this medical biochemistry textbook includes new developments in genomic research, new and updated figures and more clinical examples. The target audience is first-year medical students as well as veterinary, dental and pharmacy students. The aims are not only to communicate basic biochemical facts and concepts but also to emphasize the link between principals and medical applications.
Divided into five parts, the book starts with the structure and function of biomolecules, ends with metabolism and journeys through genetic information, cell and tissue structure and extracellular and intracellular messengers en route. The presentation is logical with later chapters building on the foundations of earlier topics. Each chapter has a small selection of multiple choice questions. Unfortunately, these are rather repetitive, testing only a small part of the information conveyed and thus of limited use to the reader in assessing whether learning outcomes have been achieved.
The inside front cover has a scratch-off panel which reveals a pin number to access the complete book online, including downloadable images and bonus content from other textbooks. It is debatable whether this is more gimmick than practical advantage as no attempt is made to take advantage of the interactive learning opportunities offered by online media.
The book is delightfully succinct, distilling the information to focus on essential, practical requirements. It is liberally sprinkled with interesting clinical examples such as ‘heartbreaking’ RNA; Viagra; rat poison; and different examples of rare inherited metabolic diseases. The writing maximizes the potential for retention of information. The description of promiscuous co-substrates and monogamous prosthetic groups in the ‘Coenzymes’ chapter is particularly instructive and memorable. The diagrams are well constructed with thoughtful use of colour to aid clarity and sufficient in number to prevent the ‘heart sink’ of solid walls of text. However, no photographs are included so the reader is left with an entirely stylized image of biochemical processes.
The text contains occasional errors such as in the derivation of the Michaelis–Menton equation in Chapter 4. American spelling and unit conventions have been adopted; provision of SI units in addition would have benefited the UK audience.
Concise and absorbing are not adjectives that are often applied to biochemistry textbooks but would not be misleading in this case. The authors achieve their aim of melding biochemical theory with clinical examples to provide an excellent overview of the essentials of medical biochemistry which is eminently suitable for the target audience but may also be of benefit to biomedical science students.