Originally published in 1939, this enduring reference/text continues with its mission to introduce biochemistry concepts to medical and health sciences students in concise text supported with graphs, charts, and diagrams. Updating the 2003 26th edition (which was drastically revised to make it shorter), the 27th includes substantial revisions as well as new coverage of bioinformatics and computational biology. Topics are each treated in about 10 pages and are presented under the themes of: structures and functions of proteins and enzymes; bioenergetics and the metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids; metabolism of proteins and amino acids; structure, function and replication of informational macromolecules; biochemistry of extracellular and intracellular communication; and special topics (e.g. nutrition, digestion and absorption, muscle and the cytoskeleton). The authors introduce each concept with discussion of its biomedical importance. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Read Less