Mark Buchanan is a physicist and independent author. He writes a monthly column for the journal Nature Physics. Guido Caldarelli is Associate Professor in the Centre for Statistical Mechanics, University of Rome 'Sapienza', Italy. Paolo De Los Rios is a Professor in the Laboratory of Statistical Biophysics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Francesco Rao researches in the Laboratoire de Chimie Biophysique, University of Strasbourg. Michele Vendruscolo is a Reader in Theoretical Chemical Biology at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge.

'Network science has experienced a spectacular explosion in the past decade, influencing a wide range of fields, from computer science to sociology. Yet, nowhere is the impact of the new theoretical framework as promising as it is in cell biology - many of the difficult open questions cannot be understood without a network based approach. Networks in Cell Biology offers an excellent introduction to this frontier, at the same time capturing the current state of research. With contributions from the best in the field, it is a valuable addition to the shelf of anyone interested in this exciting area.' Albert-László Barabási, Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School

• Introduction; 1. Network views of the cell Paolo De Los Rios and Michele Vendruscolo; 2. Transcriptional regulatory networks Sarath Chandra Janga and M. Madan Babu; 3. Transcription factors and gene regulatory networks Matteo Brilli, Elissa Calistri and Pietro Lió; 4. Experimental methods for protein interaction identification Peter Uetz, Björn Titz, Seesandra V. Rajagopala and Gerard Cagney; 5. Modeling protein interaction networks Francesco Rao; 6. Dynamics and evolution of metabolic networks Daniel Segré; 7. Hierarchical modularity in biological networks: the case of metabolic networks Erzsébet Ravasz Regan; 8. Signalling networks Gian Paolo Rossini; Appendix 1. Complex networks: from local to global properties D. Garlaschelli and G. Caldarelli; Appendix 2. Modelling the local structure of networks D. Garlaschelli and G. Caldarelli; Appendix 3. Higher-order topological properties S. Ahnert, T. Fink and G. Caldarelli; Appendix 4. Elementary mathematical concepts A. Gabrielli and G. Caldarelli; References.