Fundamentals of Molecular Structural Biology
- 2nd Edition - May 1, 2026
- Latest edition
- Author: Subrata Pal
- Language: English
Fundamentals of Molecular Structural Biology, Second Edition reviews the mathematical and physical foundations of molecular structural biology, covering the latest advanc… Read more
Fundamentals of Molecular Structural Biology, Second Edition reviews the mathematical and physical foundations of molecular structural biology, covering the latest advancements. The book begins with historical perspectives before exploring mathematical concepts, physical aspects of chemistry, the chemical basis of biology, structural analysis, visualization, protein folding, transcription, RNA processing, cell signaling, and computational molecular biology. Additionally, this new edition delves into AI fundamentals and applications, including AlphaFold and RoseTTAFold. This fully updated edition provides a detailed overview of the fundamental concepts across molecular structural biology and acts as an ideal guide for researchers and advanced students.
Given the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of this subject, this book provides early career researchers and those shifting into an adjacent field a "fundamentals" resource to get them up-to-speed on the foundations of a particular field.
Given the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of this subject, this book provides early career researchers and those shifting into an adjacent field a "fundamentals" resource to get them up-to-speed on the foundations of a particular field.
- Explores AI contributions to the study of molecular structural biology, from fundamental concepts to applications
- Describes the latest techniques and approaches in the field, including cryo-electron tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance
- Provides a current and easily digestible resource on molecular structural biology, discussing both foundations and the latest advances
- Addresses critical issues surrounding macromolecular structures, such as structure-based drug discovery, single-particle analysis, computational molecular biology/molecular dynamic simulation, cell signaling and immune response, macromolecular assemblies, and systems biology
- Presents discussions that ultimately lead the reader toward a more detailed understanding of the basis and origin of disease
Early career researchers, those shifting into the field via interdisciplinary work, and advanced students in molecular biology; researchers in computational structural biology and drug discovery
1. Introduction: A historical perspective
2. Mathematical preliminaries
3. Physical basis of chemistry
4. Chemical basis of biology
5. Biomacromolecules
6. Structure analysis and visualization
7. Protein Folding
8. DNA synthesis: Replication
9. Transcription
10. RNA processing
11. Translation
12. DNA damage and repair
13. Recombination
14. Membrane structure and function
15. Fundamentals of structural genomics
16. Cell signaling and systems biology
17. Macromolecular assemblies
18. Computational molecular biology
19. Artificial intelligence (AI) applications
2. Mathematical preliminaries
3. Physical basis of chemistry
4. Chemical basis of biology
5. Biomacromolecules
6. Structure analysis and visualization
7. Protein Folding
8. DNA synthesis: Replication
9. Transcription
10. RNA processing
11. Translation
12. DNA damage and repair
13. Recombination
14. Membrane structure and function
15. Fundamentals of structural genomics
16. Cell signaling and systems biology
17. Macromolecular assemblies
18. Computational molecular biology
19. Artificial intelligence (AI) applications
- Edition: 2
- Latest edition
- Published: May 1, 2026
- Language: English
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Subrata Pal
Subrata Pal obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in physics, from Calcutta University. Subsequently, he pursued his predoctoral research in molecular biology and received a PhD degree from the same university in 1982. He carried out his postdoctoral research in DNA replication and gene expression at two of the premiere institutions in the USA: the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland and Harvard Medical School, Boston Massachusetts. At Harvard, he received a Claudia Adams Barr special investigator award for basic contribution to cancer research. Professor Pal has a long teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels – the areas of his teaching include physics, molecular biology and genomics.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor (retired), Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India