CK-12’s Life Science delivers a full course of study in the life sciences for the middle school student, relating an understanding of the history, disciplines, tools, and modern techniques of science to the exploration of cell biology, genetics, evolution, prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, the animal kingdom, the human body, and ecology. This digital textbook was reviewed for its alignment with California content standards.

Cell Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry for Pre-Clinical Students (2021) is an undergraduate medical-level resource for foundational knowledge across the disciplines of genetics, cell biology and biochemistry. This USMLE-aligned text is designed for a first-year undergraduate medical course that is delivered typically before students start to explore systems physiology and pathophysiology. The text is meant to provide the essential information from these content areas in a concise format that would allow learner preparation to engage in an active classroom. Clinical correlates and additional application of content is intended to be provided in the classroom experience. The text assumes that the students will have completed medical school prerequisites (including the MCAT) in which they will have been introduced to the most fundamental concepts of biology and chemistry that are essential to understand the content presented here. This resource should be assistive to the learner later in medical school and for exam preparation given the material is presented in a succinct manner, with a focus on high-yield concepts.

The 276-page text was created specifically for use by pre-clinical students at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and was based on faculty experience and peer review to guide development and hone important topics.

Available Formats
978-1-949373-42-4 (PDF)
978-1-949373-43-1 (ePub) [coming soon]
978-1-949373-41-7 (Pressbooks) https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/cellbio
Also available via LibreTexts: https://med.libretexts.org/@go/page/37584

How to Adopt this Book
Instructors reviewing, adopting, or adapting parts or the whole of the text are requested to register their interest at: https://bit.ly/interest-preclinical.

Instructors and subject matter experts interested in and sharing their original course materials relevant to pre-clinical education are requested to join the instructor portal at https://www.oercommons.org/groups/pre-clinical-resources/10133.

Features of this Book
1. Detailed learning objectives are provided at the beginning of each subsection
2. High resolution, color contrasting figures illustrate concepts, relationships, and processes throughout
3. Summary tables display detailed information
4. End of chapter lists provide additional sources of information
5. Accessibility features including structured heads and alternative-text provide access for readers accessing the work via a screen-reader

Table of Contents
1. Biochemistry basics
2. Basic laboratory measurements
3. Fed and fasted state
4. Fuel for now
5. Fuel for later
6. Lipoprotein metabolism and cholesterol synthesis
7. Pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), purine and pyrimidine metabolism
8. Amino acid metabolism and heritable disorders of degradation
9. Disorders of monosaccharide metabolism and other metabolic conditions
10. Genes, genomes, and DNA
11. Transcription and translation
12. Gene regulation and the cell cycle
13. Human genetics
14. Linkage studies, pedigrees, and population genetics
15. Cellular signaling
16. Plasma membrane
17. Cytoplasmic membranes
18. Cytoskeleton
19. Extracellular matrix

Suggested Citation
LeClair, Renée J., (2021). Cell Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry for Pre-Clinical Students, Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech Publishing. https://doi.org/10.21061/cellbio. Licensed with CC BY NC-SA 4.0.

About the Author
Renée J. LeClair is an Associate Professor in the Department of Basic Science Education at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, where her role is to engage activities that support the departmental mission of developing an integrated medical experience using evidence-based delivery grounded in the science of learning. She received a Ph.D. at Rice University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute in vascular biology. She became involved in medical education, curricular renovation, and implementation of innovative teaching methods during her first faculty appointment, at the University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine. In 2013, she moved to a new medical school, University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Greenville. The opportunities afforded by joining a new program and serving as the Chair of the Curriculum committee provided a blank slate for creative curricular development and close involvement with the accreditation process. During her tenure she developed and directed a team-taught student-centered undergraduate medical course that integrated the scientific and clinical sciences to assess all six-core competencies of medical education.

Accessibility Note
The University Libraries at Virginia Tech and Virginia Tech Publishing are committed to making its publications accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The HTML (Pressbooks) and ePub versions of this book utilize header structures and include alternative text which allow for machine-readability.

Please report any errors at https://bit.ly/feedback-preclinical

The goal of this course is to teach both the fundamentals of nuclear cell biology as well as the methodological and experimental approaches upon which they are based. Lectures and class discussions will cover the background and fundamental findings in a particular area of nuclear cell biology. The assigned readings will provide concrete examples of the experimental approaches and logic used to establish these findings. Some examples of topics include genome and systems biology, transcription, and gene expression.

Mechanical forces play a decisive role during development of tissues and organs, during remodeling following injury as well as in normal function. A stress field influences cell function primarily through deformation of the extracellular matrix to which cells are attached. Deformed cells express different biosynthetic activity relative to undeformed cells. The unit cell process paradigm combined with topics in connective tissue mechanics form the basis for discussions of several topics from cell biology, physiology, and medicine.

Like most introductory science textbooks, this one opens with a discussion of scientific method. A key feature is its focus on experimental support for what we know about cell and molecular biology. Understanding how science is practiced and how investigators think about experimental results is essential to understanding the relationship of cell structure and function…, not to mention our relationship to the natural world. This is a free Open Education Resource (OER), covered by a Creative Commons CCBY license (check out the Preface!). Every chapter begins with learning objectives and links to relevant recorded lectures. As used by the author, the iText engages students with embedded “just-in-time” learning tools. These include instructor’s annotations (comments) directing students to animations or text of interest, as well as links to writing assignments and quizzes. These interactive features aim to strengthen critical thinking and writing skills necessary to understand cell and molecular biology, not to mention science as a way of thinking in general. Please excuse the marketing terms, but you can choose between Bronze, Silver, or Gold versions, reflecting increasing potential for student interaction with the iText. Download your choice of the iText or the sample chapter at one of the links below.

Learn about how phospholipids form the cell membrane, and what types of molecules can passively diffuse thorugh the membrane. By William Tsai. . Created by William Tsai.

Learn about the major components that make up our cell membrane and the fluid mosaic model. By William Tsai.

Learn about the different types of proteins that exist on the cell membrane. By William Tsai.

This lesson introduces the cell as the basic structural unit of life, and details modern cell theory.

Yeast can reproduce sexually through a signaling pathway known as the mating factor pathway. In this process, two haploid yeast cells combine to form a diploid cell. Yeast cells secrete a signal molecule called mating factor that attracts them to their mates. Once the mating factor of one yeast binds to the receptor on another yeast, an outgrowth called a "shmoo" forms, which allows the yeast cells to fuse together.

Thinking about the limiting factors of cell size. Focus on volume to surface area ratio.

Anatomy and Physiology students must know the basics of cellular metabolism. This is an introduction to cellular metabolism.

Lesson 1 in our Cellular Metabolism For Anatomy and Physiology series. This is part of our Anatomy and Physiology lecture series.

If this video helps you please be sure to LST -like subscribe and tell your friends. Your support help us make more videos. For the complete series please visit http://mrfordsclass.net/

Videos in cell biology series:
- Introduction (04:01): http://youtu.be/efzWdP-i3Jo
- Respiration Fundamentals (04:02): http://youtu.be/5BIVqFptifc

We introduce the general formula for cellular respiration as well as cover the difference between aerobic and anaerobic respiration.

Lesson 2 in our Cellular Metabolism For Anatomy and Physiology series. This is part of our Anatomy and Physiology lecture series.

If this video helps you please be sure to LST -like subscribe and tell your friends. Your support help us make more videos. For the complete series please visit http://mrfordsclass.net/

Videos in cell biology series:
- Introduction (04:01): http://youtu.be/efzWdP-i3Jo
- Respiration Fundamentals (04:02): http://youtu.be/5BIVqFptifc

Cellular respiration is the process by which our bodies convert glucose from food into energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Start by exploring the ATP molecule in 3D, then use molecular models to take a step-by-step tour of the chemical reactants and products in the complex biological processes of glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, the Electron Transport Chain, and ATP synthesis. Follow atoms as they rearrange and become parts of other molecules and witness the production of high-energy ATP molecules.

What cellular evidence do we have to construct evolutionary trees and believe that all life on Earth shares a common ancestry?

Introduction to cellular respiration, including glycolysis, the Krebs Cycle, and the electron transport chain. Created by Sal Khan.

What is cloning and do we have clones living among us today? The answers might surprise you or maybe we should say ewe.

The lesson is designed for fourth grade students using scientific investigation to identify and compare the basic parts of a plant and animal cells. This activity consists of several steps over a period of several days. It includes student use of microscopes for observations and journals to collect data to identify and classify the basic parts of plant and animal cells. The assessment has an individual component and uses student work.