This chapter deals with two basic cellular processes: the utilization of energy and the use of genetic information to control cell processes. Specifically, this chapter discusses how enzymes control cell metabolism, how energy is released and made available to the cell, and how carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins are metabolized (objectives 1-6). It also explains how genetic information is stored, how it is used to control cell processes, and how the cell changes when genetic information is altered (objectives 7-10).

An understanding of life processes at the cellular level is basic to understanding how life processes occur at more complex levels as in the whole organism.