Book Description

Macromolecules are the proteins and nucleic acids upon which life depends. Understanding the action of biological macromolecules (giant molecules) requires detailed knowledge of their structures. Most of the more than ten thousand known structures of protein and nucleic acids were obtained by x-ray crystallography, the standard mechanism for determining protein structure. Essentially, proteins are frozen into rigid crystals, which can be stacked up in a repeating pattern--like supermarket displays. The structure of each individual crystal can be determined by the way x-rays are bent when they pass through the composite crystal. Protein structure is essential when investigating protein interactions and planning drug development.
Crystallography Made Crystal Clear, Second Edition explains how scientists discover the structures of the macromolecules. Scientists do not see these molecules directly. Instead, they build models as a means of interpreting data from x-ray diffraction by crystals, or by irradiation by other forms of energy. Users of these models need to know how they are obtained in order to know what they are seeing when they study a model of a macromolecule. They also need to know how to judge whether conclusions they draw from the molecular models are really supported by the models. This book uses visual and geometric models to help readers understand the mathematics that forms the basis of x-ray crystallography.
The field of protein crystallography is growing every day and has been instrumental in discovering the molecular principles of biology and in discovering new drugs, such as the recent protease inhibitors for AIDS. The field includes the largest percentage of Nobel prizes than any other scientific discipline. Every major university and drug company has a protein crystallography laboratory and this book is an invaluable aid to those wishing to practice protein crystallography
or just learn more about how it is actually done.

Key Features
* Provides clear, understandable descriptions of principles of X-ray crystallography
* Leads reader through unintimidating and thorough explanations of the underlying mathematics
* Provides abundant illustrations, including diagrams, charts, photographs, and color stereo
* images
* Explains how to read crystallography papers in research journals
* Includes brief descriptions of other diffraction methods (neutron, electron, Laue) and the kinds
* of structural information they can provide
* Introduces other methods of macromolecular structure determination (NMR spectroscopy and
* homology modeling), and provides guidance in judging the quality of these models ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The best introduction to the subject
This is the best introduction to crystallography I have ever come across. Which is quite an achievement, because its a difficult subject to understand. In crystallography, its very rare to find a book which does not deal with either a totally descriptive approach or a totally mathematical approach. Rhodes' book bridges the gap between the two and gives the reader the right dose of jargon and explanation. He illustrates every point with plenty of figures as well as real life computer models of proteins. Before I came across this book, I was struggling and failing to understand Isomorphous Replacement, MAD, Solvent Flattening, Maps and Models, as well as the iterative refining of models. I think no other book comes even close to this book in explaining all these concepts in simple format. This, I think is as clear as it can get without becoming oversimplified. A must have for all researchers and students whose work is even remotely connected to crystallography.

"The" clearest one out there....
When it comes to this field of research, you get two types of references: (1) the 2-5 page quick intro that leaves you with the most basic overview of crystallography and (2) the 'hard core' books that go into such detail as to leave you breathless. This book is, in my opinion, the best transition book.

For non-crystallographers, this book will teach enough about crystallography to allow you to read crystal structure articles and understand what is meant by all of the used statistics and such.

For apprentice crystallographers, this is a wonderful intro into the field. Master the book, then move on to harder books to master it.

Highly recommended. I still go back to it, when I teach people, to help me explain in the way that Gale Rhodes does!

Updated for the e-century
The second edition of Crystallography Made Crystal Clear contains many improvements over the first edition, especially regarding the introduction of new graphics technology available to everyone that can view this webpage on the internet. Rhodes especially explains how the PDB file works and how to view it to best suit the individual scientist's purpose.

It is important to note that the book is still far from "crystal clear"! The portion of the book dealing with the physics of x-ray diffraction is very mysterious--definately dig out the old college physics textbook and read about diffraction when you find yourself confused. Also, the mathematics presented in the middle chapters of the book are way beyond the level that biochemists must deal with on a regular basis. An understanding of multi-variable calculus is important for these chapters.

Overall, the book is a must-read for anyone interested in structural biology, with the exception of several chapters regarding the mathematics that can be skimmed over. And the webpage associated with the book is an excellent resource.

A must for anyone interested in protein structure.
A readable overview, superb for getting a feel for how crystallography works and what the results mean. There is also an excellent section on judging the quality of an atomic coordinate file, such as a PDB file you may download. Prof. Rhodes is now completing a second edition.

Excellent.
The perfect bridge between simple introductions and more complete books, both difficult to understand for the non-crystallographer. Very clear explanations -crystal clear- and real examples from real papers. Just what I wanted to know. No more no less. ... Read more

Book Description

This indispensable guide gives concise yet comprehensive descriptions of the pulse sequences commonly used on modern MRI scanners.The book consists of a total of 65 self-contained sections, each focused on a single subject.Written primarily for scientists, engineers, radiologists, and graduate students who are interested in an in-depth understanding of various MRI pulse sequences, it serves readers with a diverse set of backgrounds by providing both non-mathematical and mathematical descriptions.

The book is divided into five parts.Part I of the book describes two mathematical tools, Fourier transforms and the rotating reference frame, that are useful for understanding MRI pulse sequences.The second part is devoted to a wide variety of radiofrequency (RF) pulses, and the third part focuses on gradient waveforms.Data acquisition, image reconstruction, and physiological monitoring related to pulse sequence design form the subject of Part IV of the book. Once this foundation is established, Part V of the book describes the underlying principles, implementation, and selected applications of many pulse sequences commonly in use today.

The extensive topic coverage and cross-referencing makes this book ideal for beginners learning the building blocks of MRI pulse sequence design, as well as for experienced professionals who are seeking deeper knowledge of a particular technique.

úExplains pulse sequences, their components, and the associated image reconstruction methods commonly used in MRI
úProvides self-contained sections for individual techniques
úCan be used as a quick reference guide or as a resource for deeper study
úIncludes both non-mathematical and mathematical descriptions
úContains numerous figures, tables, references, and worked example problems ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Its just a bunch of equations
Ok, I understand that this is an engineering book and it is going to have plenty of equations and whatnot, but it really does a poor job of placing the equations in a tangible context.

I really respect how ambitious this book is in covering models for a variety of transport phenomena, but despite my more than solid foundation in biology, physics, chemistry, and math, I have to read each chapter 3 or 4 times to be able to finally fit the new material in with the big picture. This is really frustrating. The only reason why I gave this book 3 stars and not 2 is because I realize that this type of material is difficult to "write down." It just seems like there must be something out there that does a better job of it.

Great Introduction to Biological Transport Concepts
I used this book for an introductory course in Physiological Transport Phenomena. The book is great in that the author covers most of the transport processes as they apply to biological systems and provide numerous references and useful physical property data. Its nice to see how traditional transport concepts can be applied to problems for a system which everyone of us is very familiar with, namely the human body. The only criticism is that the book does not cover heat transfer and its applications to physiological systems. Luckily my professor provided handouts and supplimental material to the lecture. One of the books he used was the fairly old text by Cooney, "Biomedical Engineering Principles: An introduction to Fluid, Heat and Mass Transport Processes". I think this book is out of print but seems to have great information contained in it as well.

This book is a definite must have for any biomedical engineering student and possibly even experienced people working in the field.

Must for Chemical Engineers
Biomedical Engineering requires chemical engineering principles in several areas. This book highlights on those in particular and is a must for chemical engineers who want to know what their challanges are going to be in such biomedical engineering research areas. This also is a primer for the subject, although from a chemical engineering point of view. Ideal for a Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering course in any chemical/ environmetal engineering department. ... Read more

Book Description

The second edition of this bestselling title presents the most up-to-date comprehensive reviews of all aspects of biomaterials science by providing a balanced, curricular approach to learning biomaterials.An historical perspective of materials engineering principles is integrated with the biological interactions of biomaterials, regulatory and ethical issues and future directions of the field, and a state-of-the-art update of medical and biotechnological applications.From tissue engineering to cochlear prostheses and drug delivery systems, all aspects of this important and growing field are thoroughly addressed.

Contributions detailing the principles of cell biology, immunology, and pathology from pre-eminent researchers and practitioners from diverse academic and professional backgrounds have been integrated into this important volume.The chapters focus on the clinical uses of biomaterials as components in implants, devices, and artificial organs and their uses in biotechnology as well as the characterization of the physical, chemical, biochemical and surface properties of these materials.

*Over 80 contributors from academia, government and industry.

*The most up-to-date comprehensive reviews of all aspects of biomaterials

*Endorsed by the Society for Biomaterials

*Provides comprehensive coverage of principles and applications of all classes of biomaterials

*Integrates concepts of biomaterials science and biological interactions with clinical science and societal issues including law, regulation, and ethics

*Discusses successes and failures of biomaterials applications in clinical medicine and the future directions of the field

*Cover the broad spectrum of biomaterial compositions including polymers, metals, ceramics, glasses, carbons, natural materials, and composites ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Biomedical Engineering Student
...I was not impressed with the content of this book because of mistakes made in the data it reported ie. that polymers can't form crystalline structures. I also found that the equations presented in the text did not have detailed information and at times the explaination of how to use the equations were slight.
I was also disappointed in the fact that I had to buy a xerox copy from the book store on campus (my financal aid would not pay for a book purchased anywhere else) because the publisher stopped print production before the class started which left myself and several other students "hanging" with only the option of purchasing a cheap copy for nearly the price of the original. Now I am left with an expensive book that I can't even you as reference material for future courses nor can I sell it because it is a copy and lastly because it is no longer in print.

Fabulous book for beginners and advanced students
This is a well written book with something for just about everyone. There are parts geared directly to engineers, but issues like foreign body response are dealt with rigorously enough for the best bio geek. All classes of implantable devices are covered with a healthy dose of history to boot!

A dry read, but very informative
It was a dry read, but it was chock full of information on biomaterials. It made me proud to be a biomedical engineering student. ... Read more

Book Description

The field of environmental microbiology encompasses aspects of several areas of study including microbial ecology, molecular genetics, and environmental science. Environmental Microbiology is the first book to offer a comprehensive discussion of this field as a discipline, which the authors define as the study of microbial fate and activity in air, water, and soil, and the resulting impact on human health and welfare. While the roots of environmental microbiology can be traced to sanitary engineering (water and wastewater treatment), the field has grown to include other practical issues such as bioremediation, the control of known and emerging waterborne pathogens, microbial risk assessment, and environmental biotechnology. Five general areas are emphasized in this text: (i) Foundation chapters, (ii) microbial environments, (iii) detection of microbial activity, (iv) the impact of microbial activity on the environment in terms of nutrient cycling and pollutant fate, and (v) detection and control of pathogens in the environment. Designed for courses at senior undergraduate and graduate levels, Environmental Microbiology will also serve as an essential reference for environmental microbiologists, microbial ecologists, and environmental engineers, as well as those interested in epidemiology, water and wastewater treatment, and biotechnology.

Key Features
Among the Highlights of this state-of-the-art Textbook:
* Includes foundation chapters for background in biological and earth sciences
* Covers emerging areas such as transport of microbes and DNA, microbial risk assessment, and use of molecular detection in environmental applications
* References key or landmark works without interrupting the flow of text
* Describes the newest analytical and molecular methodologies
* Contains many detailed, full-color graphics to make the text visually stimulating
* Presents numerous "case studies" to emphasize relevance to real-life situations
* Provides study questions at the end of each chapter ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Just mediocre.
I was anxious to receive this book, since it was praised as one of the best books available in the area of environmental microbiology. After reading through the pages, I just couldn't agree with this statement.
Here are some of the good points of this book: It's written in a fairly easy to understand language and provides a lot of pictures and graphs to illustrate important concepts.
Here are the bad points: It summarizes a lot and leaves out a lot of details and information. Whoever buys this book better know something about biochemistry and microbiology already. The graphs and pictures are sometimes ridiculous and of poor quality, almost like they were done at a home PC.
The book would be best for somebody who is a hobby environmentalist that wants to expand his/her knowledge, or undergraduate students of biology who want to explore the environmental aspect of microbiology out of curiosity. If you are serious about environmental microbiology and really want to get into it on a more professional level, I suggest the "Manual of Environmental Microbiology" 2nd edition, published by the American Society for Microbiology. It's a little more expensive, but worth every penny!

Environmental Microbiology
This is one of the most detailed, interesting, well illustrated books in microbiology that I have ever read. It gets right to the information that someone working in the environmental field needs, all in one place. No more digging around through multiple sources and hunting the internet for the latest information - its all here. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good introduction to pharmaceutical process engineering.
An above average treatment, although a bit too brief in many areas, especially the various unit operations. One must have some basic understanding of chemical engineering concepts to follow through the pages, although the initial few chapters tried to address that. However, there are still plenty of useful insights with regards to pharmaceutical process engineering. Could do with more figures of actual equipment used in the pharmaceutical industry. ... Read more

Book Description

Completely revised and updated, this second edition of the best-selling Molecular Biotechnology covers both the underlying scientific principles and the wide-ranging industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and biomedical applications of recombinant DNA technology.This new edition includes expanded coverage of the types of organisms and cells used in molecular biotechnology, DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, the methodology and applications of genetic engineering of plants, and microbial production of therapeutic agents.Updated chapters reflect recent developments in biotechnology and the societal issues related to it, such as cloning, gene therapy, and patenting and releasing genetically engineered organisms."Milestones" summarize important research papers in the history of biotechnology and their effects on the field.TABLE OF CONTENTS: Fundamentals of Molecular Biotechnology The Molecular Biotechnology Revolution Molecular Biotechnology Biological Systems DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis Recombinant DNA Technology Chemical Synthesis, Sequencing, and Amplification of DNA Manipulation of Gene Expression in Prokaryotes Recombinant Protein Production in Eukaryotic Cells Directed Mutagenesis and Protein Engineering Molecular Biotechnology of Microbial Systems Molecular Diagnostics Microbial Production of Therapeutic Agents Vaccines Synthesis of Commercial Products by Recombinant Microorganisms Bioremediation and Biomass Utilization Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria Microbial Insecticides Large-Scale Production of Proteins from Recombinant Microorganisms Eukaryotic Systems Genetic Engineering of Plants: Methodology Genetic Engineering of Plants: Applications Transgenic Animals Human Molecular Genetics Human Gene Therapy Regulating and Patenting Molecular Biotechnology Regulating the Use of Biotechnology Patenting Biotechnology Inventions ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good introductory material for the technical
To those who are interested in the functional aspects of the DNA this is the right introductory stuff. It covers areas including basic molecular biology to commercial methods for manipulating the genes. Pretty useful for someone who's more interested in the technology than the biology!

Good overview but lacks technical rigor
I am currently using this book for a course in Molecular Biotechnology taught through the chemistry department. Although the book covers a wide range of biotechnology fields, from manipulation of gene expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes through human gene therapy, it does so in a somewhat shallow and repetitive way. I have also seen clearer and more concise diagrams covering similar topics in other biochemistry books, and there is a paucity of in-depth coverage in any particular area. This is not necessarily the authors's fault, however, arising from the plethora of information found in the biotechnology field. If someone wants a broad review of molecular biotechnology, this is a decent book, but if you want to focus on a specific area within biotechnology, look somewhere else. ... Read more

Book Description

In the tradition of Schrodinger's classic What Is Life?, this book is a tour-de-force investigation of the basis of life itself, with conclusions that radically undermine the scientific approaches on which modern science rests-the approaches of Newton, Boltzman, Bohr, and Einstein. Kauffman's At Home in the Universe, which The New York Times Book Review called "passionately written" and nature named "courageous," introduced pivotal ideas about order and evolution in complex life systems. In investigations, Kauffman builds on these theories and finds that classical science does not take into account that physical systems--such as people in a biosphere--effect their dynamic environments in addition to being affected by them. These systems act on their own behalf as autonomous agents, but what defines them as such? In other words, what is life? By defining and explaining autonomous agents and work in the contexts of thermodynamics and of information theory, Kauffman supplies a novel answer to this age-old question that goes beyond traditional scientific thinking. Much of Investigations unpacks the progressively surprising implications of his definition. Kauffman lays out a foundation for a new concept of organization, and explores the requirements for the emergence of a general biology that will transcend terrestrial biology to seek laws governing biospheres anywhere in the cosmos. Moreover, he presents four candidate laws to explain how autonomous agents co-create their biosphere and the startling idea of a "co-creating" cosmos. A showcase of Kauffman's most fundamental and significant ideas, Investigations presents a new way of thinking about the basics of general biology that will change the way we understand life itself--on this planet and anywhere else in the cosmos. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

A rugged read of a book
I have followed the writings of Stuart Kauffman very closely since his first book 'Origins of Order'. The Santa Fe Institute with which he is associated is a wonderful think-tank of multi-disciplinary, but converging studies. Kauffman's contribution to this group has been huge.

I find that Kauffman's world view is compelling, resonant and deeply fascinating. This book contains the ideas within 'At Home in the Universe' and then extends them into the 'adjacent possible'.

Be prepared when reading this book to be taxed on your knowledge of cell chemistry, mathematics, thermodynamics and evolution. The rapid jumps between disciplines are handy for explaining some rather obtuse ideas, but Kauffman may isolate many readers by diving in to unelaborated detail on the idiosyncracies of these subjects. Even a brief overview of some of the terms used in his metaphors would be a great help to those without PhDs.

Personally, I buy Kauffman's worldview hook, line and sinker which makes any of his writings a must-read for me, but I am convinced that the audience for this book was not carefully considered, and as a result it seems that it is written for himself primarily. It could do with a thorough edit removing the grandiose language.

Stu, I know you can do better.

Life in a Complex Universe
"Investigations" marks a new phase in Stuart Kauffman's seminal work on self-organization and complexity. In this fascinating extension of his theoretical approach to the generation of order in the universe, he focusses on the idea of the autonomous agent, which forms the basis for a new and more precise definition of the living organism. The autonomous agent, according to Kauffman, is an organization of matter that extracts works from its environment in order to maintain its structural and functional integrity over time. An autonomous agent is one that does work on its own behalf. Kauffman goes into considerable physical detail to show how this is not only possible but inevitable. Because of the intimate relation between work and self-maintenance in this schema, Kauffman speaks of organisms as exemplifying a fourth law of thermodynamics that allows for increasing organizational complexity in the midst of a universe whose entropy is constantly increasing.

The fourth law explains how the diversity of the biosphere continues to increase through an exploration of "the adjacent possible," the realm of alternative organizations reachable through single mutations. In this view, the proliferation of life forms is not so much the result of chance as it is of a working out of the natural tendency of existing entities to self-organize into structures of greater and greater complexity.

Kauffman's muscular writing in "Investigations" once again demonstrates an exceptional combination of rigorous scientific logic and a poetic vision that encompasses a fertile and abundant universe.

Questions which shake science
This is a great book. Not by the suggested answers to the problems related to the notion of Life, but by the questions which are asked. It breaks dogmas in physics which simply do not allow the comprehension of biology from a physical perspective. Kauffman notes limits of our actual physics, and proposes tentative ways of exploring.
This book is good for anyone with an inquisitive mind and a desire to explore the nature of Life.
(...)

Confusion is Part of the Solution
Stuart Kauffman has been probing the "deep structure" of life for decades. He is one of the founding members of the Santa Fe Institute, the leading center for the emerging sciences of complexity. His work therein started in complex Boolean networks in which he found "order for free" in a void seeming to consist of nothing but chaos. This lead him to highly dynamical yet self-structuring autocatalytic sets (now known as "Kauffman sets") which eventually lead him to search for a general biology from which all of life could extrapolate. Kauffman never was much for neo-Darwinism or natural selection, and here he continues his holistic approach to self-organizing biospheres.

Investigations attempts, in part, to outline four candidate laws governing biospheres (large dynamical systems full of self-organizing autonomous agents - such as the universe itself). A lofty pursuit to be sure, givien that biospheres are teeming with so much complexity, interdependence and obscured initial states (to name just a few of the obvious pitfalls). There are also the problems, as Kauffman points out, that biospheres are "nonergodic" and their "nonequilibrium" flowing into a "persistent adjacent other."

Recondite minutia notwithstanding, Investigations is fun in a way not many books of this intellectual magnitude are. Kauffman cuts the hard science with wit and pondering of the utmost human persuasion. While he undermines the very foundations on which modern science stands (the work of Newton, Boltzman, Einstein and Bohr), Kauffman compares the geniuses of Shakespeare and Einstein ("I'm not sure whose genius is the more awesome, " he says.) and emphasizes the importance of story in understanding our lives in the universe.

With a healthy mix of speculation, cutting-edge science and hypothesis steeped in years of grappling with the hard questions, Stuart Kauffman's Investigations is sure to inspire and intrigue, as well as confound and confuse. As he says, "Oh, confusion. Perhaps a certain confusion is healthy. We have not tried to embrace all of this at once before."

Interesting ideas but get this man a decent editor
Normally I'd dismiss out of hand anyone who claims to have found a fourth law of thermodynamics but from Stuart Kauffman, I'll hear what he has to say. I've been following Kauffman's work for years and his thinking is as engaging as ever. Unfortunately, his prose is not. Grandiose, clumsy and over-written, he sells his ideas short. The language is unreadably uneven as it ranges from patronising pop-sci gobbley-gook to technical minutaie of molecular biology.

Kauffman attempts to articulate something that he calls "general biology". This is simply a dressed-up term for the classic problem of the origin of life. Unfortunately, his explanation also follows the classic pop-sci strategy of explaining one mysterious thing (life) by replacing it with other equally mysterious concepts (work and semantics). In this part of the book, the writing is woefully repetitive and elliptic. No real conclusions are drawn, which is a a monumental let-down given the ego-maniacally overblown introduction. There is an intellectual abyss between Kauffman's definition of life as auto-catalytic systems with one work cycle, and real cells that undergo reproduction and darwinian evolution.

Nevertheless, there are many nuggets of gold in the later chapters. Probably the most interesting is the idea of the adjacent possible. The adjacent possible is the set of all possible chemicals that can be synthesized in one chemical step from all existing chemicals. Unlike other concepts introduced in the book, it is something that can be computed (though not exhaustively). Kauffman then proposes a fourth law of chemical thermodynamics: a chemical system advances into the adjacent-possible as fast as it can. Kauffman shows how this hypothetical fourth law can be analysed by relating this to his previous work on sustainable chemical diversity. Indeed, the best parts of the book are where Kauffman re-caps his previous work on auto-catalytic systems and genomes of real organisms, and then extends the analysis to explain his fourth law of thermodynamics.

Kauffman makes some neat analogies between the chemical adjacent-possible with economics. He points out that classical economic models of pricing rely on the assumption of a finite prestable collection of goods and services. Instead, a more fruitful model for an economy of products can be made in analogy to the ever-explanding set of catalytic chemicals. There is also a great analysis on the limits of the economy of scale where Kauffman makes a analogy between the Ksat problem and the problem of producing diverse products in a single factory. And finally, in the grand tradition of pop-sci books, there is a final chapter where all the problems of quantum mechanics and cosmology are solved with the application of one special idea. Although this last chapter is pure science fiction, the book is worth perservering as some of the ideas are original, useful and genuinely thought provoking. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Prentice Hall Q&A Review of Med Tech/CLS
I highly recommend this book! I bought several other review books such as Concise Review, and this book has more detail than any of the others. It has 1000's of questions, but what is most helpful is the DETAILED description of the answers. They were so thorough that by diligently studying and outlining their answers you will learn a tremendous amount. ... Read more

Book Description

''Considerably augmented for [the] second edition...[contains] a vast amount of information....it will surely be much used.'' --Ultramicroscopy This newly updated second edition details the latest instrumentation and applications of the confocal microscope. This edition features 21 new chapters and includes information on preparing living specimens for the confocal microscope. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A must have if you want to know about confocal microscopy
This is a great reference book. A great place to start if you want to learn about confocal microscopes. The chapters are written by experts in their specific field of confocal microscopy. The book is also well referenced so that you can easliy continue your search for knowledge on confocal microscopy. I also found the appendix interesting, they list most of the existing confocal systems and there specs. This is useful if you plan on purchasing one. This book is also useful if you plan on building your own. ... Read more

Book Description

In the next fifty years, life spans will extend well beyond a century. Our senses and cognition will be enhanced. We will have greater control over our emotions and memory.Our bodies and brains will be surrounded by and merged with computer power. The limits of the human body will be transcended as technologies such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering converge and accelerate. With them, we will redesign ourselves and our children into varieties of posthumanity.

This prospect is understandably terrifying to many. A loose coalition of groups-including religious conservatives, disability rights and environmental activists-has emerged to oppose the use of genetics to enhance human beings. And with the appointment of conservative philosopher Leon Kass, an opponent of in-vitro fertilization, stem cell research and life extension, to head the President's Council on Bioethics, and with the recent high-profile writings by authors like Francis Fukuyama and Bill McKibben, this stance has become more visible-and more infamous-than ever before.

In the opposite corner a loose transhumanist coalition is mobilizing in defense of human enhancement, embracing the ideological diversity of their intellectual forebears in the democratic and humanist movements. Transhumanists argue that human beings should be guaranteed freedom to control their own bodies and brains, and to use technology to transcend human limitations.

Identifying the groups, thinkers and arguments in each corner of this debate, bioethicist and futurist James Hughes argues for a third way, which he calls democratic transhumanism. This approach argues that we will achieve the best possible posthuman future when we ensure technologies are safe, make them available to everyone, and respect the right of individuals to control their own bodies.

Hughes offers fresh and controversial answers for many other pressing biopolitical issues-including cloning, genetic patents, human genetic engineering, sex selection, drugs, and assisted suicide-and concludes with a concrete political agenda for pro-technology progressives, including expanding and deepening human rights, reforming genetic patent laws, and providing everyone with healthcare and a basic guaranteed income.

A groundbreaking work of social commentary, Citizen Cyborg illuminates the technologies that are pushing the boundaries of humanness-and the debate that may determine the future of the human race itself. ... Read more

Book Description

The first two editions of this manual have been mainstays of molecular biology for nearly twenty years, with an unrivalled reputation for reliability, accuracy, and clarity.

In this new edition, authors Joe Sambrook and David Russell have completely updated the book, revising every protocol and adding a mass of new material, to broaden its scope and maintain its unbeatable value for studies in genetics, molecular cell biology, developmental biology, microbiology, neuroscience, and immunology.

Handsomely redesigned and presented in new bindings of proven durability, this three-volume work is essential for everyone using today’s biomolecular techniques.

The opening chapters describe essential techniques, some well-established, some new, that are used every day in the best laboratories for isolating, analyzing and cloning DNA molecules, both large and small.

These are followed by chapters on cDNA cloning and exon trapping, amplification of DNA, generation and use of nucleic acid probes, mutagenesis, and DNA sequencing.

The concluding chapters deal with methods to screen expression libraries, express cloned genes in both prokaryotes and eukaryotic cells, analyze transcripts and proteins, and detect protein-protein interactions.

The Appendix is a compendium of reagents, vectors, media, technical suppliers, kits, electronic resources and other essential information.

As in earlier editions, this is the only manual that explains how to achieve success in cloning and provides a wealth of information about why techniques work, how they were first developed, and how they have evolved. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself cloning
When Bobs first recieved this set as a gift I thought it would make a lovely doorstop. My last pregnancy, however, was a triple birth that Bobs and our live-in next-door neighbor, Chompson, cooked up in a petrie dish down in the basement. I thought that this cloning business was all a bunch of hogwash, but as the years pass I've come to realize that two of the babies are exact clones of Chompson! (the third appears to be a clone of Bobs' favorite TV goddess, Farrah Fawcett-Majors) While I think that Bobs was remiss in his choice of subjects, you have to respect the science that makes miracles like this possible.

the BIBLE of every biologist
So few and so much to say about this bible of Biology at the bench...
You'll really find everything you want in it, including the composition of all the buffers and solutions, the new protocols for high-tech biology (FLIM-FRET), some paragraphs about bioinformatics and more.Incredibly precise, this book is consequently a big book (3 huge volumes), so better know exactly wath you're looking for before opening it!
The must have of every lab!

the BIBLE of every biologist
So few and so much to say about this bible of Biology at the bench...
You'll really find everything you want in it, including the composition of all the buffers and solutions, the new protocols for high-tech biology (FLIM-FRET), some paragraphs about bioinformatics and more.Incredibly precise, this book is consequently a big book (3 huge volumes), so better know exactly wath you're looking for before opening it!
The must have of every lab!

Excellent reference for all
In this 3 volume set of books the authors summarize the most important laboratory protocols for DNA analysis and cloning. As someone involved in computational biology and mathematical gene sequence analysis, I was needing such a summary to get an idea of just how genetic engineering is actually practiced in the laboratory. The book is definitely written for those readers that are very experienced in these "wet" techniques, but it still could be perused profitably by anyone who is curious about genetic engineering. There is also an excellent website that owners of the books can go to and search for protocols and obtain updates and additions to the protocols.

At the beginning of each chapter, the authors give an introduction to the protocols and this is of an enormous help to those readers with only rudimentary acquaintance with the laboratory procedures. Typically, this introduction contains an historical summary of the procedures as they were developed or discovered. One can only marvel at the ingenuity of the discoverers of these techniques. These introductions are fairly straightforward to read, even for those that are not experts in biochemistry.

At the end of each chapter, the authors include an "information panel" that gives a more in-depth view of the biochemistry or genetics behind the procedures. These are summaries and are highly specialized, and are again meant for experienced readers. A very lengthy list of references is also included at the end of each chapter.

Becuase of the size of this collection, space here does not permit a detailed review, so I will list some of the areas that I thought were particularly interesting or well-written (these coming from the introduction or the information panels only): 1. The DNA synthesis at the colE1 replicon and the interaction between RNAI and RNAII. 2. The discussion of electroporation and the physics behind this technique to introduce DNA into eukaryotic cells. 3. The discussion on the discovery of bacteriophage lambda. 4. The discussion (with diagram), of the assembly pathway of bacteriophage lambda. 5. The summary of the early analysis of DNA using electrophoresis and the different pulsed-field configurations used. 6. The anecdote on the discovery of the polymerase chain reaction. 7. The short discussion on computer-assisted design of oligonucleotide primers. 8. The discussion of oligonucleotide synthesis. 9. The flowchart detailing the preparing and screening of a cDNA library. 10. The history of the development of the methods to synthesize and clone cDNAs. 11. The detailed discussion of the molecular cloning of double-stranded cDNA. 12. The discussion on the methods to validate clones of cDNA. 13. The discussion on magnetic beads for affinity purification. 14. The discussion on the history of DNA sequencing and the different techniques to accomplish it, particularly the information panel on automated DNA sequencing. 15. The discussion of the different types of mutagenesis and the different methods for accomplishing it. 18. The fascinating discussion of how to introduce cloned genes into mammalian cells. 19. The discussion on the steps involved in DNA footprinting. 20 The discussion on green flourescent protein and its use as a fusion tag. 21. The discussion on the use of surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy.

A must for molecular biologists
I love this book, however some areas are better covered in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, and vice versa. So I would recommend having both. ... Read more

Book Description

A state-of-the-art account of research in algal production and utilization.The book explores in detail all steps of the subject, from the preparation of stock cultures to the growth in large outdoor ponds.Dr. Becker provides a compilation of the different methods employed worldwide for the artificial cultivation of different microalgae, including recipes for culture media, description of outdoor and indoor cultivation systems, as well as harvesting and processing methods. ... Read more

Book Description

Polymer Chemistry is an introductorytextbook intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students and industrial chemists who work with polymers.The author's purpose in writing the book was to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the chemistry of macromolecular substances, with particular emphasis on polymers that are important commercially, and the properties that make them important. Major topics include polymer synthesis nomenclature, molecular weight, reactions of polymers, recycling of polymers, methods used for characterizing and testing polymers, morphology, stereoregular polymers, polymer blends, heterocyclic polymers, inorganic polymers, and natural polymers.Review exercises, frequently including journal references, are provided to lead students into the polymer literature. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great introduction to polymer chem...
I was not able to fit polymer chem into my schedule at University, so I bought this book after graduating. This book is extremely organized and provides a lot of examples. The first of three sections provides a great introduction with the focus on definitions and structure. This is accomplished with very little reference to reactions.
The next two sections, which are titled vinyl and nonvinyl polymers respectively, address reaction mechanisms and kinetics. This layout allowed for smooth transitions between sections and concepts were introduced and reinforced smoothly.
The other thing I liked about it, is the continuous reinforcement of nomenclature...every time a name was used a corresponding structure was on that same page.

Premier Polymer Chemistry Text
This textbook does an excellent job of going over the basics of polmer chemistry. There are insightful questions at the end of chapters that make students think and the book goes over the material in such a way that a background in organic chemistry is not necessary. If you need to learn about polymer chemistry on your own, this book is an excellent purchase.

Polymer Chemistry-An Excellent Introduction
"Polymer Chemistry: An Introduction" is an excellent text for an upper division undergraduate or graduate level course in polymer chemistry. The book is also enjoyable to read for scientists and engineers in the polymer and materials fields. The content is logically organized, there is fairly in-depth discussion of mechanisms of polymerization reactions and of the origins of stereoregularity in polymers, and the problems at the end of each chapter are more than adequate for reviewing the subject matter. Professor Stevens clearly introduces the reader to the subject of polymer chemistry, relating the physical properties of macromolecular materials to polymer orientation, microstructure, stereochemistry and chemical composition. He also provides an enormous amount of information on the history of polymers in a fashion that effectively reinforces the important concepts being described. I find myself referring to this text far more frequently than the other polymer texts on my bookshelves. ... Read more

Book Description

Extensively revised and updated, the new edition of the highly regarded Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes is an essential reference for biochemists, biotechnologists and molecular biologists. Edited by world-renowned experts in the field, this comprehensive work provides detailed information on all known proteolytic enzymes to date. This two-volume set unveils new developments on proteolytic enzymes which are being investigatedin pharmaceutical research for such diseases as HIV, Hepatitis C, and the common cold.

Volume I covers aspartic and metallo petidases while Volume II examines peptidases of cysteine, serine, threonine and unknown catalytic type. A CD-ROM accompanies the book containing fully searchable text, specialised scissile bond searches, 3-D color structures and much more.

* Presents practical information in terms of name, history, activity, specificity, structural chemistry, preparation, biological aspects, distinguishing features, and relevant references for each enzyme; representative assay conditions are also included
* Enzymes are further presented not only according to the Enzyme Commission system, but are further subdivided within each class to include clans and families, based on genetic relatedness
* Provides information and answers on how one peptidase can be distinguished from another and referred to ambiguously, and how a scientist can tell when they have discovered a novel peptidase
* Accompanying CD-ROM provides useful search facilities ... Read more

Book Description

Discussions of the basic structural, nanotechnology, and system engineering principles, as well as an introductory overview of essential concepts and methods in biotechnology, will be included.  Text is presented side-by-side with extensive use of high-quality illustrations prepared using cutting edge computer graphics techniques.  Includes numerous examples, such applications in genetic engineering.  Represents the only available introduction and overview of this interdisciplinary field, merging the physical and biological sciences.  Concludes with the authors' expert assessment of the future promise of nanotechnology, from molecular "tinkertoys" to nanomedicine.  David Goodsell is author of two trade books, Machinery of Life and Our Molecular Nature, and Arthur Olson is the world's leader in molecular graphics and nano-scale representation. ... Read more

Book Description

Discovering Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics combines integrated Web exercises with a problem-solving approach to train readers in basic hands-on genomic analysis. The authors present global problems, then provide the tools of genomic analysis to help readers dissect the answer, thus encouraging critical thinking skills. Short boxed readings called "Math Minutes" explain the math behind the biology.For anyone interested in genomics, proteomics, or bioinformatics. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A novel approach!
Abstract: great and innovative book. I have seen many books, but none like this. It is still concise in this first edition, yet could become the "Lewin" of genomics.
Score: 9/10.

Recommended to students: yes, together with classic works like Brown.

Recommended to Central Library: yes.

1. The supplied CD-ROM is a nice teaching aid. Yet, it is difficult to "extract" pictures from it for teaching purposes. It would be much more useful if the pictures were individually supplied in standard high-quality graphic formats like TIFF, instead of PDF. The later is perfect for distributing text with pictures, but not to retrieve such pictures. Other publishers distribute the book artwork as individual TIFF files. That approach greatly enhances the book and boost sales. This is particularly useful for teachers. Actually, it is a must for us these days. Please, make sure that future versions of the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM are --as this one-- compatible with the open-source Unix-based Mac OS X platform. Thanks.

2. The associated web page "Instructor's Guide"3. The discovering questions are terrific. Please, expand them in future versions.

4. Math minutes are an excellent idea.

5. Boxes are welcome. Please, include more.

6. Also helpful are the boldface words on each chapter. Perhaps they could be also included in a keywords at the beginning of each chapter.

7. The index should be more comprehensive and should have all main entries in boldface. This is important to any index and very few books have it right.

8. The glossary is helpful. It should be more comprehensive,
including more terms.

9. The summaries and conclusions are great, yet should be expanded to include more relevant information. They should be like a "minichapter" an the end of each chapter or --better-- at the beginning. All partial summaries could be pooled into a larger summary that way.

10. Addendum sections could be included as separate notes or boxes.

11. The pronunciation tips for new words are also an excellent idea; mostly for non-English speakers.

12. The classified references are really useful. Well done. If they were commented or "annotated" they would be just perfect.

13. A list of abbreviations would be welcome. A list sorted by the full name would be very handy as well.

14. What about telomerase and aging? What about the fact that
unicellular organisms are immortal? Or stem cells? Or tumor cells? Death is a tax that multicellular organisms have to pay to nature in order to evolve. Yet we humans might change that soon.

15. It should be clearly indicated the organisms with genomes made of dsDNA, ssDNA, dsRNA and ssRNA.

16. Missing bioinformatics tools and step-by-step analysis of genes and mRNA (see next) and whole genomes.

17. It would be really helpful to explain clearly and analyze --even from a bioinformatics point of view-- the structure of genes, mRNA, CDS, introns, exons, promoters and terminators. It is not clear where do these elements start or end or how to recognize them. Diagrams and graphs would greatly help to explain these absolutely basic and fundamental concepts. In other words, imagine that you have cloned and sequenced a genomic gene as well as a full mRNA (cDNA). Now you want to publish your results and for that you do a comprehensive description of your gene (chromosome) and cDNA (mRNA). That is precisely the kind of information that is missing as a diagram and explanation. In this way, it should be indicated that you may encounter several ATG (or other) starting coding triplets in the mRNA, that if the 20 or so amino acid residues of the 5'-end of a peptide have a high percentage of hydrophobic residues, they are likely part of a leading peptide which would be further excised, that you may encounter several polyadenylation signals, etc. On the genome side, the promoter and terminator structures should be analyzed, as well as the intron-exon boundaries.

18. Likewise, it should be indicated the tools and current
possibilities to determine or predict the 3D structure of a protein (folding) from the primary structure of the peptide.

19. Does not mention Lasergene package of DNAStar20. Which genes are best to draw dendrograms? Differentiation between genes from the nucleus or organelles (mitochondrion or chloroplast). Likewise for DNA fingerprinting and molecular markers.

21. Differential display methodologies are missing (as well as other methodologies of gene expression like subtractive hybridization).

22. Large-scale sequencing is missing. For instance, sequencing of single-molecules will allow the sequencing of whole chromosomes or genomes.

23. Missing tables comparing different genomes with full details
(size, ploidy, percentage of genes, introns, exons, repetitive DNA, junk DNA, etc).

24. Reference to manufacturers is very useful. Please, include also links to web sites. Best if all manufacturers are included as an appendix.

25. All web sites (NCBI, etc) and web-based applications (BLAST, ORF Finder, etc) should be clearly indicted in an appendix.

26. It is not indicated that the PCR was in fact described with full details by Khorana et al 14 years before Mullis et al.

27. Please, include more drawings and pictures in the printed book and CD-ROM.

28. Suggestion: including chapters on eukaryotic-genomic DNA
libraries, cDNA libraries, subtractive libraries.

29. Suggestion: including chapters on plant and animal transformation.

30. Suggestion: including drawing of Maxam-Gilbert sequencing method and Sanger method (Applied Biosystems electropherograms,
electrofluorograms).

31. Prions, viroids and viruses could be also included.

32. A title index at the beginning of each chapter would be very
useful. Besides the goals for chapter, which are quite useful.

33. Bioinformatics could be significantly expanded.

34. QuickTime videos explaining some topics would be fantastic.
Please, make them in QuickTime (best quality, platform-independent).

35. All in all, a great novel approach. Keep up the great work! ... Read more

Book Description

Honey-mustard chicken roasting in an oven, fashion models sporting the latest line of lipstick, blush and balm, and the piercing sound of paper being torn in half may not seem to have much in common. But in reality, food, cosmetic and paper products similar to these often undergo rigorous testing at some stage or another as part of a fascinating-and stimulating-scientific process: sensory evaluation.Aimed at the practicing sensory professional, Sensory Evaluation Techniques, Third Edition, makes product evaluation clear, concise, and approachable, with the simplest to the most complex sensory methods and their interpretation spelled out. The book explores the theory and applications of sensory evaluation methods with sufficient background material to allow the user to understand the evaluation of sensory perception and actually perform sensory tests. The book's "how-to" description of sensory evaluation methods features all of the commonly-used practical sensory tests, followed by a guide to selecting the optimal method for a given problem. Descriptions are accompanied by several practical examples. Consumer research techniques are included, and the book contains complete instructions for the Spectrumä method of descriptive analysis, as well as relevant selection of those statistical techniques the sensory analyst needs, with examples illustrating the analysis of sensory tests.New in the Third Edition is the latest information on sensory tests and statistical techniques for the analysis of sensory data being introduced all over the world. The Unified Approach to discrimination testing, for example, which is now becoming the norm in sensory science, is examined in detail, with examples provided. Also new: a Test Sensitivity Analyzer and over 300 scales and hundreds of standard terms for the Spectrum method. So whether it be for instructors and students of sensory science, practicing sensory analysts, or researchers and libraries in the production and marketing of food, beverages, cosmetics, fragrances, textiles and paper products, Sensory Evaluation Techniques, Third Edition, is one of the most comprehensive sources on sensory panel techniques in the industry. ... Read more

Book Description

The book presents fundamentals and reviews on the state of the art of mathematical modeling and control of bioprocesses and demonstrates the application on various industrial important biological systems. At the same time, the application of different types of models and control strategies are illustrated as well. The book also takes the recent developments in reactor modeling into account. In addition to modeling and control, the metabolic flux analysis and the metabolic design and their application to bioprocesses are considered. ... Read more