Book excerpt: Functional Metabolism of Cells is the first comprehensive survey of metabolism, offering an in-depth examination of metabolism and regulation of carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids. It provides a basic background on metabolic regulation and adaptation as well as the chemical logic of metabolism, and covers the interrelationship of metabolism to life processes of the whole organism. The book lays out a structured approach to the metabolic basis of disease, including discussion of the normal pathways of metabolism, altered pathways leading to disease, and use of molecular genetics in diagnosis and treatment of disease. It also takes a unique comparative approach in which human metabolism is a reference for metabolism in microorganisms and plant design, and presents novel coverage of development and aging, and human health and animal adaptation. The final chapter reviews the past and future promise of new genetic approaches to treatment and bioinformatics. This, the most exhaustive treatment of metabolism currently available, is a useful text for advanced undergraduates and graduates in biochemistry, cell/molecular biology, and biomedicine, as well as biochemistry instructors and investigators in related fields.