"Xuhua Xia s Bioinformatics and the Cell is a welcome addition to the bourgeoning field of bioinformatics text books. Xia stakes out a too-often neglected middle ground in bioinformatics by presenting a work that emphasizes methods biological utility without eschewing algorithmic formalism. Readers will find a well-rounded presentation of bioinformatics techniques employed in genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics - unified throughout by the common theme of molecular evolution."