This popular textbook has been revised and updated to provide a comprehensive overview and to reflect the latest developments in this rapidly developing area. Advances in basic research at the molecular level have provided many insights into biological processes and allowed the production of new developments across the fields of genome editing, proteomics, agriculture, microbial biotechnology, bioinformatics and therapeutics. This new edition provides the reader with a number of key areas in discrete chapters either updated from the previous edition or written as entirely new chapters concerning emerging fields. By presenting information in an easily assimilated form, this book makes an ideal undergraduate text for students of biology and chemistry, as well as appealing to postgraduates.