The MIT Biology
Hypertextbook
by Pamela M. Gannon
(Issue 10 ? posted June 13, 1997; archived June 27, 1997)
The MIT
Biology Hypertextbook is the premier online textbook for biology.
In scope and depth it is unmatched. Its subject matter includes
everything from general biochemistry to Mendelian genetics to
recombinant DNA. The Biology Hypertextbook is a valuable resource for
students, instructors, and for anyone searching for cell and molecular
biology information on the Internet.
The Biology Hypertextbook is designed to supplement the Introductory
Biology Course (7.01) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The
project was developed for the Experimental Study Group (ESG) Program by
undergraduate students Shane Crotty, Christina Onufryk, and Alo Basu, and is
directed by Professor of Biology Vernon M. Ingram. Material for the
Hypertextbook was gathered
from handouts and problems developed by ESG's biology tutors and 7.01
biology instructor Brian White. Additional material has been provided
by Genentech's Access
Excellence. Online since January 1996, the Web site is actively
maintained.
The general layout of the site is like a textbook. Each chapter has a
directory that contains the full table of contents in hypertext. The
Biology Hypertextbook chapters are Chemistry Review, Large Molecules,
Cell Biology, Enzyme Biochemistry, Glycolysis and the Krebs Cycle,
Photosynthesis, Central Dogma, Mendelian Genetics, Prokaryotic Genetics
and Gene Expression, Recombinant DNA, and Immunology. At the end of
every chapter are practice problems with solutions. Both chapter text
and practice problems may be searched.
I find the best way to locate information in the Biology Hypertextbook
is to browse through the chapters just as one might skim through a
textbook. The Cell Biology chapter is very thorough, especially the
sections about membrane proteins and membrane transport. As you might
expect, the Enzyme Biochemistry chapter reviews chemical energetics and
enzyme kinetics, and the Mendelian Genetics chapter introduces genetic
crosses, pedigrees, and linkage mapping. The Central Dogma chapter is
a fun chapter to browse - it describes the search for genetic material
and the identification of DNA and includes a section titled "The Beauty
of Mutations." The Recombinant DNA chapter discusses molecular cloning
techniques and contains lectures by Dr. Eric Lander and Dr. Bruce Weir
on DNA identification. Photosynthesis is a new chapter, as is
Prokaryotic Genetics and Gene Expression. The Practice Problems are a
great resource, but an archive of the problems would be a nice feature.
At various points in the Biology Hypertextbook the reader is referred to
other relevant Web resources for additional information. In the Cell
Biology chapter, you are recommended to the WWW Cell Biology Course for more descriptions and pictures of
organelles. In the Large Molecules Chapter, you can go directly to the
ExPASy 3-D
protein image database (University of Geneva) to search for the
image coded by a linear sequence of DNA. The entire Glycolysis and the
Krebs Cycle chapter is a collection of links to other resources. The
Mendelian Genetics chapter contains a link to the Virtual FlyLab (California State University, Los Angeles).
I hope that the Hypertextbook will continue to integrate links to other
Web sites, especially as more biology niche sites are coming online.
This would make would the Biology Hypertextbook an even more powerful
tool.
The strength of the Biology Hypertextbook is its tremendous amount of
information. Luckily, the material is organized in a very
straightforward manner. A particularly nice feature of the Hypertextbook
is the integration of simple figures and diagrams into the text. 
Readers are referred to larger images by links. This coordinates
pertinent images with the text while allowing for faster page
downloading.
Dr. Vernon Ingram, supervisor of the Biology Hypertextbook project, thinks
of the Biology Hypertextbook "as an encyclopedia more than a textbook
or a course." Dr. Ingram stresses that the Biology Hypertextbook is
an ongoing project. Plans for this summer include adding a neurobiology chapter,
and improving the immunology chapter and the search capabilities. The
Biology Hypertextbook is being translated into Spanish, Italian, and Korean.
Mirror sites are planned for Italy, South Africa, Great Britain, and Sweden. According
to Dr. Ingram, one goal of the Biology Hypertextbook is "to make this kind
of material more clear and more accessible."
The Biology Hypertextbook project is funded by the MIT Dean of Science as
part of a biology curriculum development grant. The MIT Department of Biology
will be providing additional support. Dr. Ingram has refused the offers of various
publishers to produce the Biology Hypertextbook on CD-ROM because he wants to
keep the Hypertextbook freely available to colleges, universities, and especially to
developing countries.
The most obvious target audience of this extensive Web resource is
students. But the Biology Hypertextbook is also useful for instructors
who are teaching or designing cell biology and molecular biology
courses. In fact, the Biology Hypertextbook is the best online resource
for anyone looking for answers to specific molecular biology questions.
For many people, the MIT Biology Hypertextbook will be the endpoint in
their search for biology information on the Web.
Pamela M. Gannon, Ph.D.,
is the founder and Webmaster
of Cell and Molecular Biology Online.
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