Tropp (emeritus, City U. of New York-Queens College) updates the textbook for undergraduate or first-year graduate students who have completed at least a full-year course in college biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry. He continues to use the discovery pedagogical method he introduced in the third edition, and keeps in mind that many students taking molecular biology are thinking of going into the medical sciences. The sections cover protein structure and function, nucleic acids and nucleoproteins, genetics and virology, DNA and RNA metabolism, and protein synthesis. An associated website is available. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)