Essentials of Biological Chemistry is an introduction to this exciting and rapidly developing field of the chemistry of biologically active compounds. Assuming little in the way of biological knowledge, this text aims to develop students' understanding of how biological processes are controlled by underlying chemical principles. Taking a mechanistic approach, the book starts with the basics and carefully leads the reader through the essentials of the field. It begins by looking at biological systems and the physical chemistry of the cell, and then moves on to cover protein structure and function and catalytic proteins, and concludes with a number of case studies. Each chapter is carefully structured, and includes examples, summaries, self-test questions and problems.