Written for undergraduate non-majors and the general reader, this textbook combines science, consumer applications, regulatory information and social issues. It gives students a perspective on how science, technology and society work together, and then describes the foundations of science from the atom to the organism, working from the composition of the cell's molecular components, proteins, metabolism, reproduction and differentiation. It then gives the components of living systems (genetics and evolution) to build an ecosystem. The final chapters give research and commercial applications for biotechnologies. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)