What do you think?
Rate this book
マンガでわかる [Manga de Wakaru]
The manga guide Biologia molekularna
The manga guide. Biologia molekularna
226 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2009
26 people are currently reading
512 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 20, 2024
A very interesting easy reading book about one of the most interesting field for me "molecular biology".
Even though the topic and information discussed are simple but it was really organized with a creative examples to make people who don't know anything understand the idea of genes and cells world.
It adds a small new knowledge for me but revise most of topics I was taught at college.
I was excited to read these series as I watch an Anime called "cells at work" that simplify the immune system world with an amazing character and this book also did so.
Highly recommend for people who love science that taught in creative and entertainment way. 🩷🩷
Even though the topic and information discussed are simple but it was really organized with a creative examples to make people who don't know anything understand the idea of genes and cells world.
It adds a small new knowledge for me but revise most of topics I was taught at college.
I was excited to read these series as I watch an Anime called "cells at work" that simplify the immune system world with an amazing character and this book also did so.
Highly recommend for people who love science that taught in creative and entertainment way. 🩷🩷
July 5, 2018
Ami y Rib han suspendido Biología Molecular por faltar a las clases. A modo de recuperación, deben asistir a las peculiares lecciones del Dr. Moro y su asistente Marco, quienes disponen de un avanzado sistema de realidad virtual dentro del cual pueden visualizar el núcleo y el ADN. Este sistema permitirá que tengan un mayor conocimiento de la Genética Molecular.
El libro tiene partes de manga, donde los personajes destilan mucha simpatía y ganas de aprender, y donde fundamentalmente se muestran los procesos de replicación, transcripción y traducción, así como el Código Genético o el funcionamiento celular básico. Al manga le acompañan partes textuales que profundizan y amplían los conceptos, como cuando se habla de la Biotecnología o de las biomoléculas.
El contenido que recoge el manual se adapta a un curso de 2º de Bachillerato (si bien simplifica algunos conceptos, otros no tanto), permitiendo una lectura que ayuda a comprender los procesos más abstractos. Y lo mejor es que ofrece una visión vitalista y divertida de la Biología, acompañada de una pequeña y entrañable historia en torno a los protagonistas.
El libro tiene partes de manga, donde los personajes destilan mucha simpatía y ganas de aprender, y donde fundamentalmente se muestran los procesos de replicación, transcripción y traducción, así como el Código Genético o el funcionamiento celular básico. Al manga le acompañan partes textuales que profundizan y amplían los conceptos, como cuando se habla de la Biotecnología o de las biomoléculas.
El contenido que recoge el manual se adapta a un curso de 2º de Bachillerato (si bien simplifica algunos conceptos, otros no tanto), permitiendo una lectura que ayuda a comprender los procesos más abstractos. Y lo mejor es que ofrece una visión vitalista y divertida de la Biología, acompañada de una pequeña y entrañable historia en torno a los protagonistas.
July 27, 2016
My full review is here: http://daariga.wordpress.com/2013/01/...
The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology is one from the many in the manga series by No Starch Press. For a while now, I have had my eye on these English translations of works by and from Japanese. This particular manga on molecular biology is written and illustrated by Masaharu Takemura. The motivation is to use the story-telling, action-oriented and illustrative powers of the manga to introduce a science that is quite hard to grok.
Though weak and laughable, there is a story and a few principal characters here to support the cause of the manga. Ami and Rin are two students of molecular biology who have not been attending classes regularly. In order to help them, their Professor, named Moro, brings them to his private island where he has a lab. Over the next few days, his assistant Marcus uses the virtual reality machine in their lab to help these two students understand this science.
There are 5 important entities of molecular biology that the manga sets out to explain: cell, protein, DNA, RNA and gene. These entities are present in every cell of our body and are constantly in action. In every being on this planet, cells are working hard producing a myriad of proteins and are reproducing all the time. By literally taking the students (and the reader) on a trip inside the human cell, employing the virtual reality machine, the manga quite successfully brings the world of a cell to life.
I liked this manga maybe due to the fact that I did not study biology after class 10. There are a few compelling reasons why I think this manga was really good. The author has a real intuitive understanding of the science. Cells are not static, but are composed of molecules moving around and accomplishing work. The reader gets to view this action, both at the atomic-molecular level and the cellular level. Almost all textbooks restrict themselves to boring 2D figures. In this manga, we get to see how everything is organized and working in 3D. And finally, all of this content is nicely organized so that the reader is gently taken to complex concepts like DNA replication, DNA-RNA transcription and RNA-protein translation.
You might be wondering that you already know many of these concepts. So, why pick this manga? I thought so too. Here are a few tit-bits to titillate you. The cell has a cell wall. If it is a wall, how do proteins and other molecules move in and out of cells? DNA is a double-helix string. If you peek into the nucleus of a cell, will you see DNA strings floating in goo like seaweeds in water? The answer is no! Chromosomes are typically drawn as X-shaped entities. Why? During cell division, DNA replicates by making a copy of itself. If you were to zoom down to the DNA-level during replication, what would you actually see in action in front of your eyes? What is the factory-robot-like molecular machinery that is holding a DNA string, like a person holding a beaded string and methodically copying over every bead (alphabet) over to a new string? The answers to this and more will literally blow your mind!
Manga is typically read very fast. I have seen manga readers on Tokyo trains flipping a page per second. Here though, every page takes time for the mind to visualize and to imagine how the machinery moves and interacts in 3D. This manga of ~256 pages took me 2 days to read. I must also warn that the drawings, while sufficient, are not as fantastic as what is in popular manga series. Given that Takemura is a lecturer, I think this is easily forgiveable.
In conclusion, the concepts in this manga might be rudimentary for a person knowing molecular biology. But for me, it was so revealing that I had to, yet again, question the origin, the why and how of life itself. Inside every cell on this planet, is an incredibly complex molecular machinery whose working is nothing short of amazing. Pick up the manga and dive into this tiny cosmos!
The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology is one from the many in the manga series by No Starch Press. For a while now, I have had my eye on these English translations of works by and from Japanese. This particular manga on molecular biology is written and illustrated by Masaharu Takemura. The motivation is to use the story-telling, action-oriented and illustrative powers of the manga to introduce a science that is quite hard to grok.
Though weak and laughable, there is a story and a few principal characters here to support the cause of the manga. Ami and Rin are two students of molecular biology who have not been attending classes regularly. In order to help them, their Professor, named Moro, brings them to his private island where he has a lab. Over the next few days, his assistant Marcus uses the virtual reality machine in their lab to help these two students understand this science.
There are 5 important entities of molecular biology that the manga sets out to explain: cell, protein, DNA, RNA and gene. These entities are present in every cell of our body and are constantly in action. In every being on this planet, cells are working hard producing a myriad of proteins and are reproducing all the time. By literally taking the students (and the reader) on a trip inside the human cell, employing the virtual reality machine, the manga quite successfully brings the world of a cell to life.
I liked this manga maybe due to the fact that I did not study biology after class 10. There are a few compelling reasons why I think this manga was really good. The author has a real intuitive understanding of the science. Cells are not static, but are composed of molecules moving around and accomplishing work. The reader gets to view this action, both at the atomic-molecular level and the cellular level. Almost all textbooks restrict themselves to boring 2D figures. In this manga, we get to see how everything is organized and working in 3D. And finally, all of this content is nicely organized so that the reader is gently taken to complex concepts like DNA replication, DNA-RNA transcription and RNA-protein translation.
You might be wondering that you already know many of these concepts. So, why pick this manga? I thought so too. Here are a few tit-bits to titillate you. The cell has a cell wall. If it is a wall, how do proteins and other molecules move in and out of cells? DNA is a double-helix string. If you peek into the nucleus of a cell, will you see DNA strings floating in goo like seaweeds in water? The answer is no! Chromosomes are typically drawn as X-shaped entities. Why? During cell division, DNA replicates by making a copy of itself. If you were to zoom down to the DNA-level during replication, what would you actually see in action in front of your eyes? What is the factory-robot-like molecular machinery that is holding a DNA string, like a person holding a beaded string and methodically copying over every bead (alphabet) over to a new string? The answers to this and more will literally blow your mind!
Manga is typically read very fast. I have seen manga readers on Tokyo trains flipping a page per second. Here though, every page takes time for the mind to visualize and to imagine how the machinery moves and interacts in 3D. This manga of ~256 pages took me 2 days to read. I must also warn that the drawings, while sufficient, are not as fantastic as what is in popular manga series. Given that Takemura is a lecturer, I think this is easily forgiveable.
In conclusion, the concepts in this manga might be rudimentary for a person knowing molecular biology. But for me, it was so revealing that I had to, yet again, question the origin, the why and how of life itself. Inside every cell on this planet, is an incredibly complex molecular machinery whose working is nothing short of amazing. Pick up the manga and dive into this tiny cosmos!
August 5, 2012
:)) sweet. Reading molecular biology 'narrated' as a story is definitely new to me, I liked it very much. It could be either a light refresher for Biologists, or an interesting comic-book for pple interested in sciences in general.
It's the story of Rin and Ami, 2 girls who have missed too many classes for their Molecular Biology class, so Dr. Moro takes them on the summer vacation to his research island where they can use the 'virtual reality' machine to enter the cell and study the 'molecules of life; DNA, RNA, Proteins' and all about their interactions and stuff. most of the explanation was carried out by the 'attractive' assistant, so it wasnt like a professor giving lectures. what made it really ineresting is that it's a comic book, i.e, all pictures and jokes, second is that the Biology material is very light and everything has very creative analogies that really stick in your mind.
plus, its not just the basics, in other words as a senior biologist i wasn't at all bored at any point, there were many interesting research updates.
and i loved the ending :) it left me feeling proud to be a Biologist :)
It's the story of Rin and Ami, 2 girls who have missed too many classes for their Molecular Biology class, so Dr. Moro takes them on the summer vacation to his research island where they can use the 'virtual reality' machine to enter the cell and study the 'molecules of life; DNA, RNA, Proteins' and all about their interactions and stuff. most of the explanation was carried out by the 'attractive' assistant, so it wasnt like a professor giving lectures. what made it really ineresting is that it's a comic book, i.e, all pictures and jokes, second is that the Biology material is very light and everything has very creative analogies that really stick in your mind.
plus, its not just the basics, in other words as a senior biologist i wasn't at all bored at any point, there were many interesting research updates.
and i loved the ending :) it left me feeling proud to be a Biologist :)
January 1, 2023
This book had a better explanation on genes, DNA, and chromosomes than wikipedia and a few other online resources. The pictures, diagrams and analogies help to make the concepts memorable. It also has a nice story to maintain the reader's interest. The diagram showing how genes map to the nucleotides and DNA could have been clearer.
A good basic reference to supplement high school learning and refresh a student's memory.
A good basic reference to supplement high school learning and refresh a student's memory.
February 20, 2010
I guess it's a good intro to molecular if you're exploring the subject on your own and want a quick overview of the field, but as might be expected this isn't a textbook and skips a lot of material. I found the characters superficial and the plot in between discussion of concepts to be somewhat aimless, but others may disagree with me.
October 4, 2009
A great refresher for those like me that were not really paying attention in biology class. Together with the Cartoon Guide to Genetics, it'll get that foundational knowledge needed to start to get deeper into biology or phylogenetics or plant science (whatever you might need the background for).
October 29, 2021
I am very confused as to whom this book is meant for:
1. For molecular enthousiasts and students it's too basic and all over the place. Nor does it have a decent plot to speak of and the characters are unlikeable and annoying.
2. For random people into Manga this book goes way too far and goes into boring exposition dumps that are literal walls of text with pages of no animation.
Combine the flaws both and you really have... a mess that tries to teach people Molecular Biology...
I hope for some it might succeed. I just have no idea who that person would be.
But at least it tries, that's why it gets 2 stars.
1. For molecular enthousiasts and students it's too basic and all over the place. Nor does it have a decent plot to speak of and the characters are unlikeable and annoying.
2. For random people into Manga this book goes way too far and goes into boring exposition dumps that are literal walls of text with pages of no animation.
Combine the flaws both and you really have... a mess that tries to teach people Molecular Biology...
I hope for some it might succeed. I just have no idea who that person would be.
But at least it tries, that's why it gets 2 stars.
September 20, 2017
Rin dan Ami diundang oleh Dr. Moro untuk datang ke sebuah pulau privat untuk belajar Biologi Molekuler. Tapi sampai di sana, mereka hanya ditemani oleh Marcus, asistennya Dr. Moro. Ternyata tempat yang mereka datangi di pulau itu semacam laboratorium yang dilengkapi alat-alat canggih. Mereka bisa seakan-akan masuk ke dalam sel dan melihat isi sel. Trus belajar tentang protein, DNA, RNA...
Asyiknya...seandainya ada ya di dunia nyata. Belajar biologi molekuler pasti lebih menyenangkan
Asyiknya...seandainya ada ya di dunia nyata. Belajar biologi molekuler pasti lebih menyenangkan
March 11, 2018
I liked it; it didn't seem quite as good as the other manga guide I read on genetics but that might be because it was second. There's a lot of good information for someone who's feeling their way through molecular biology like I've been.
April 5, 2019
very promising trial intended for simplifying various concepts of molecular biology, however, it is considered just refresher of information as it misses very important details like defining the following terms (leading, lagging strands and post-transcriptional modifications of m-RNA)
January 26, 2025
Interessante abordagem pedagógica, efetiva, mas, como o próprio prefácio indica, é de conteúdo bastante inicial. Talvez por esse motivo seja fácil de ler, uma vez que não há enredo, então não é o que conduz à aprendizagem. Mas eu aprendi bastante...
May 6, 2013
I curiously picked this up as an amusing refresher for my molecular biology memories. It is quite good factually and visually. I mostly skim through the anime sections but they are entertaining enough between the hard science. The lessons start off quite simple and easy to understand then escalate to the finer points of each topic quite well. The analogies, akin to a professor trying to get his students to understand the new topic, are sometimes better than actual textbooks. Whether you are new to molecular bio or just want to review it, this is a good base to start off of. The last section of the book was especially up to date on stem cell and gene therapy. I'm interested in checking out other topics of this series, especially ones I don't know as much about.
December 19, 2014
This book is a really good way to teach scientific concepts. It is short, simple, and an excellent introduction to microbiology. I got this to study for my college biology final- although I didn't have to take it, as I was excused from it since I did so well in the class. Still, I decided to read it. Although the story is very weak, it really isn't important. The main reason anyone would read this is for how it teaches its subject matter, and honestly, I think it does it better than any textbook or online article I've read. Very highly recommended for people studying microbiology.
May 18, 2016
Интересный сюжет, информация дана хорошо и развернуто. Читается легко и быстро.
Мне понравилось, так как увлекаюсь молекуляркой и думаю что если бы я прочитал это в школе мне тоже бы это понравилось, но был бы риск увлечься чтением другой манги, всякой ненужной мангой если быть точнее.
Такого рода книжек не много увы. Так что я бы предлагал их читать детям которые увлекаются мангой чтобы перетянуть их внимание в сторону биологии, нежели тем кто увлекаются биологией и отвлечь их в направлении манги.
Мне понравилось, так как увлекаюсь молекуляркой и думаю что если бы я прочитал это в школе мне тоже бы это понравилось, но был бы риск увлечься чтением другой манги, всякой ненужной мангой если быть точнее.
Такого рода книжек не много увы. Так что я бы предлагал их читать детям которые увлекаются мангой чтобы перетянуть их внимание в сторону биологии, нежели тем кто увлекаются биологией и отвлечь их в направлении манги.
January 24, 2017
Finally, I am done!
Okay, so don't let the Large Amount of Reading Time it took me to finish this deter you. This book is great. Everything is clearly explained, and the manga story that goes along with it is entertaining. I only wish it had a glossary as I kept forgetting the definitions of words ("Wait, a nucleotide is part of DNA, right?"), but the index is concise enough to look stuff up to refresh your memory.
Okay, so don't let the Large Amount of Reading Time it took me to finish this deter you. This book is great. Everything is clearly explained, and the manga story that goes along with it is entertaining. I only wish it had a glossary as I kept forgetting the definitions of words ("Wait, a nucleotide is part of DNA, right?"), but the index is concise enough to look stuff up to refresh your memory.
July 24, 2011
This was a pretty decent book. The details are very much lost, but the very generic overview is there. Some of the definitions I found questionable since it conflicted with my understanding of the material presented. Overall, I do feel this book is decent as an overview, but definitely don't use this as one's only resource.
July 3, 2016
I studied molecular bio in college and I thought this book was pretty darn good. I noticed a few essentials missing, but you can only cram so much into one book. I think it's a great way to spark someone's interest in biology. Even if you are well-versed, you'll still get a kick of how they present it.
March 29, 2023
Mi è piaciuto molto, sia sulla spiegazione dei contenuti, sia sulla storia pretesto (che ha la sua importanza). Andiamo nel mondo della genetica e scopriamo cellule, proteine, dna, rna e geni. Ultimamente questi argomenti sono stati alla base di discussioni dovuta alla pandemia. Così si può recuperare un pò di informazioni in modo tranquillo.
January 9, 2011
I loved when it went to "easy mode!" I finally understand what ATP is, and why carbohydrates are important. I remember talking about this stuff in high school biology, and college nutrition courses, but I never really "got it." It finally clicked. Yay manga guides! I love this series.
October 19, 2011
Useful for me as a CS guy needing a light wade into the field before hacking on some NLP programs.
January 8, 2013
A great intro to Molecular Biology. Can't wait till i can show my little coz
July 24, 2013
This book and the whole series of Manga Guides rock. :-D
Read
August 27, 2015572.8 T1366 2009
June 5, 2013
I've read this book to explore new education approach...and it works well!
August 12, 2013
I absolutely loved the low level description of how photophosphorylation powers the photosynthesis process. It really made the data come alive with the vivid manga style.
Read
July 8, 2015this an awsome book
August 26, 2015
A slow and simple start, but becomes more interesting and informative as the book progresses. This is another entertaining Manga Guide that is worth reading.
August 6, 2016
This was a cute manga study guide
January 10, 2017
Forse avrei esposto gli argomenti in un altro modo, ma l'essenziale c'è. Anzi ho ripassato qualcosa che non sapevo o non ricordavo bene.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews