Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand—and apply—key concepts. The 2nd edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Art and illustrations have been substantially improved, and the textbook features additional assessments and related resources.

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Explain the “central dogma” of DNA-protein synthesis
Describe the genetic code and how the nucleotide sequence prescribes the amino acid and the protein sequence

This pathway explores the processes of transcription and translation that allow cells to produce proteins from DNA.

This pathway includes an introduction to how genetic information is replicated and expressed to form proteins. For a deeper look at this topic, we recommend the pathways DNA Structure and Function and Genes and Proteins from the OpenStax textbook Biology for AP® Courses.

This video explains the different ways the gene editing complex CRISPR-Cas9 is delivered into cells.

Different mutations have different effects on the gene product, the protein. This scrollable explores the various types of genetic mutations CRISPR-Cas9 editing can induce in target DNA and their effects on the protein.

This pathway provides an introduction to nucleic acids and their role in providing heritable information in cells. For a deeper look at this topic, we recommend the pathway DNA Structure and Function from the OpenStax textbook Biology for AP® Courses.