Cambridge International A Level Biology Revision Guide

Cambridge International AS Level Biology
Recommended resources
Chapter 2
Further reading
Alberts, B. et al. (2013) Essential Cell Biology, 4th edn. Garland Science.
Chapter 2: ‘Chemical Components of Cells’ has useful narrated animations explaining the structures
of glucose, palmitic acid, ATP and non-covalent bonds using three-dimensional models. There
are also animations and video clips with narrated explanations covering the following aspects of
‘Protein Structure and Function’: Viewing proteins, Alpha helix, Beta sheet, Disulfide bonds. Available
at: www.garlandscience.com/ECB4-students.
Online and interactive resources
www.rcsb.org
The RCSB* Protein Data Bank is a free online set of resources including the three-dimensional
structures of large biological molecules and structures such as proteins, nucleic acids and
ribosomes. It is a key resource for biologists worldwide. It is always interesting to check out their
‘Molecule of the Month’. Many fascinating structures can be viewed. Videos are also available
showing molecular animations, such as the binding of oxygen to haemoglobin.
(*RCSB: Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics.)
www.rcsb.org/pdb/education_discussion/educational_resources
Posters of molecules and metabolic pathways, such as the Krebs cycle, are available on this section
of the RCSB site; for example, ‘What is a Protein?’, and ‘Molecular Machinery: A Tour of the Protein
Data Bank’, including nucleosome, microtubule, collagen and ribosome structures.
wwpdb.org/iycr2014.html
2014 is the International Year of Crystallography, commemorating 100 years of X-ray diffraction.
The Protein Data Bank calendar for 2014, available to view on the above link, illustrates how X-ray
crystallography has contributed to an understanding of biological molecules. There are spectacular
images of, among other things, myoglobin, a ribosome and insulin.
www.johnkyrk.com/H2O.html
www.johnkyrk.com/aminoacid.html
John Kyrk’s website has animations about water, and about amino acids and proteins.
Cambridge International AS and A Level Biology © Cambridge University Press 2014