Oxford Biology Primers

A concise, stimulating introduction to the fundamental biomolecules in cells and organisms, and the exciting ways biochemistry could be used to solve global problems, both now and in the future.

Written primarily for mid-to-upper level undergraduates, this primer provides a concise and engaging overview of cancer from its molecular basis to the clinical management of patients.

Written primarily for 16-to-19-year-old students, this primer provides a highly accessible overview of key milestones in the history of cancer research, our current understanding of the disease, and future directions in its diagnosis and treatment.

Cell signalling is instrumental to understanding the workings of all organisms, including humans, and so this concise introduction to the main aspects of cell signalling in biological systems is a valuable accompaniment to the study of medicine, biomedical sciences, biological sciences and environmental sciences.

A concise, stimulating introduction to climate change, from a biological perspective. This book encourages readers to engage with and critically think about the latest research into climate change.

Written primarily for 16-19 year old students, this concise, stimulating introduction to modern conservation biology, and the issues that constrain us from achieving sustainability aims to extend students' knowledge and inspire them to take their school-level learning further.

Written primarily for 16-19 year old students, this concise introduction to evolution traces the history of the emergence of life, contextualising the development of evolutionary thought and discussing the implications of evolutionary processes on modern-day genomics, biochemistry, and ecology.

Written primarily for students embarking on an undergraduate bioscience degree, this primer provides a concise and engaging overview of the genetic basis of disease, including the current use of genetics in a clinical context and its future applications.

In this title, scientists from the Wellcome Genome Campus reveal how this fast-growing area of biology is being used, and consider the ethical issues that are raised. Their exploration considers the technology needed to decipher the genomes of thousands of species; what genomics is revealing about human evolution; and the impact of genomics on medicine, asking how we can use genomics to identify rare diseases, track pathogens, and develop new dru...

This concise, stimulating introduction to the endocrine system and the role of hormones in the context of disease, development, reproduction, and behaviour aims to extend students' knowledge and inspire them to take their school-level learning further.

A concise, stimulating introduction to infectious disease, its treatments and preventative measures, this book encourages readers to engage with and critically think about the latest research into microbiology and immunology.

Written primarily for mid-to-upper level undergraduates, this primer provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities of applying synthetic biological techniques to mammalian cells, tissues, and organisms.

Written primarily for 16-19 year old students, this primer introduces the key features of the marine environment and explores definitions of marine biodiversity at different levels of biological organization: genetic, species, ecosystem, and functional. It also discusses how changes in ocean features due to human activities are having a negative impact on marine biological diversity.

Written primarily for students embarking on an undergraduate bioscience degree, this primer will introduce students not only to the essentials of microbial biotechnology but also to topics at the forefront of the subject. These include its applications in agriculture, diagnostics, and urban and artistic conservation, as well as the potential threats of genetic modification in the context of public health, the environment, and intellectual propert...

This primer covers the anatomy and physiology of the key organ systems in the human body, as well as common diseases affecting these systems and how surgery can be used to manage them.

Written primarily for mid-to-upper level undergraduates, this title provides an introduction to the evolution of the photosynthetic organisms that dominate the biosphere and underpin the rest of life on Earth.

This book is a concise, stimulating introduction to plant disease, its impact on human health and economic systems, and the increasing roles of technology in surveillance, diagnosis and disease management to combat the threats of the future.

Written primarily for mid-to-upper level undergraduates, this compelling introduction to power analysis offers a clear, conceptual understanding of the factors that influence statistical power, as well as guidance on improving and presenting the outcomes of power analyses to justify experimental design decisions.

Written primarily for students embarking on an undergraduate bioscience degree, this primer provides an accessible, straight-forward, and approachable guide to data presentation using R.

This primer introduces students to the essential topics in protein science clearly and concisely by describing the basic chemical structure of proteins, the factors that stabilize protein structures, protein function and protein evolution.