Biochemical Pathways: An Atlas of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2nd Edition

Book Preface

Since the publication of the fi rst edition of ‘Biochemical Pathways’ in 1999 the molecular life sciences (encompassing biology, biochemistry, pharmacy and medicine) have undergone dramatic changes. With the extremely rapid development in the ‘OMICS’ analytical techniques (Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolimics) we are in principle able to determine the genome of a microorganism in one day and a human genome for a couple of thousand dollars. We have also seen the advent of ‘systems biology’, which, based on the measured OMICS-data, aims at analysis and even prediction of biological functions by the construction of computer models. These models simulate the reaction of biological systems, including whole cells, to changes in the environment, genetic disorders or mutations. Based on the annotation of the genome and experimental data, metabolic, regulatory and signal transduction pathways and networks are constructed and mathematically formulated. They depend entirely on our knowledge of biochemical pathways, as they are presented in this book.

As outlined in the preface to the first edition, one of us (GM) began early in the 1960s to combine an extract of the biochemical knowledge in a wall chart. The other of us (DS), towards the end of his student life saw the ‘Biochemical Pathways’ wall chart or ‘Boehringer chart’ in almost every lab working in the field of biochemistry or molecular biology. (At present, it is distributed as the 4th edition by Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim). He was impressed by the puzzle work biochemists had performed for almost one century. This presentation of important features of biochemistry was extended in the Since the publication of the fi rst edition of ‘Biochemical Pathways’ in 1999 the molecular life sciences (encompassing biology, biochemistry, pharmacy and medicine) have undergone dramatic changes. With the extremely rapid development in the ‘OMICS’ analytical techniques (Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolimics) we are in principle able to determine the genome of a microorganism in one day and a human genome for a couple of thousand dollars. We have also seen the advent of ‘systems biology’, which, based on the measured OMICS-data, aims at analysis and even prediction of biological functions by the construction of computer models. These models simulate the reaction of biological systems, including whole cells, to changes in the environment, genetic disorders or mutations. Based on the annotation of the genome and experimental data, metabolic, regulatory and signal transduction pathways and networks are constructed and mathematically formulated. They depend entirely on our knowledge of biochemical pathways, as they are presented in this book.

As outlined in the preface to the first edition, one of us (GM) began early in the 1960s to combine an extract of the biochemical knowledge in a wall chart. The other of us (DS), towards the end of his student life saw the ‘Biochemical Pathways’ wall chart or ‘Boehringer chart’ in almost every lab working in the field of biochemistry or molecular biology. (At present, it is distributed as the 4th edition by Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim). He was impressed by the puzzle work biochemists had performed for almost one century. This presentation of important features of biochemistry was extended in the