This streamlined "essential" version of the Molecular Pathology (2009) textbook extracts key information, illustrations and photographs from the main textbook in the same number and organization of chapters. It is aimed at teaching students in courses where the full textbook is not needed, but the concepts included are desirable (such as graduate students in allied health programs or undergraduates). It is also aimed at students who are enrolled in courses that primarily use a traditional pathology textbook, but need the complementary concepts of molecular pathology (such as medical students). Further, the textbook will be valuable for pathology residents and other postdoctoral fellows who desire to advance their understanding of molecular mechanisms of disease beyond what they learned in medical/graduate school.