Molecular components of cells -- Facts of life: chemistry is the logic of biological phenomena -- Water: the medium of life -- Thermodynamics of biological systems -- Amino acids and the peptide bond -- Proteins: their primary structure and biological functions -- Proteins: secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure -- Carbohydrates and the glycoconjugates of cell surfaces -- Lipids -- Membranes and membrane transport -- Nucleotides and nucleic acids -- Structure of nucleic acids -- Recombinant DNA: cloning and creation of chimeric genes -- Protein dynamics -- Enzymes: kinetics and specificity -- Mechanisms of enzyme action -- Enzyme regulation -- Molecular motors -- Metabolism and its regulation -- Metabolism: an overview -- Glycolysis -- Tricarboxylic acid cycle -- Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation -- Photosynthesis -- Gluconeogenesis, glycogen metabolism, and the pentose phosphate pathway -- Fatty acid catabolism -- Lipid biosynthesis -- Nitrogen acquisition and amino acid metabolism -- Synthesis and degradation of nucleotides -- Metabolic integration and organ specialization -- Information transfer -- DNA metabolism: replication, recombination, and repair -- Transcription and the regulation of gene expression -- Protein synthesis -- Completing the protein life cycle: folding, processing, and degradation -- Reception and transmission of extracellular information