Book Description

Recently expanded to 2 volumes, Short Protocols in Molecular Biology, Fifth Edition, provides condensed descriptions of more than 700 methods compiled from Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. Includes new chapters on chromatin assembly and analysis, nucleic acid arrays, generation and use of combinatorial libraries, discovery and analysis of differentially expressed genes in single cells and cell populations.

The book is specifically designed to provide quick access to step-by-step instructions for the essential methods used in every major area of molecular biological research

Short Protocols in Molecular Biology, Fifth Edition is an authoritative and indispensable guide for all life scientists, researchers, and students at the graduate and advanced undergraduate level

Expanded to 2 volumes. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

an excellent brief reference book
This is a well-organized, clear, short reference work. Well done

The (little) Red book...
Here is the little red bok.
If the big one is too expensive for you, you can always buy this. You'll find inside all the important protocols and data for molecular biology.It's up to date, and clearly presented.
Try it, and then buy the big one!

A very good reference manual
This book is an essential tool for people in the scientific field such as Molecular Biology (obviously), Biochemistry, and Neuroscience. It is comprehensive and up-to-date as far as the techniques are concerned. It is good value in a sense that you don't have to buy the whole "Current Protocols Series" which costs an arm and a leg if you do. Although nowadays, a lot of "kits" are commercially available, the techniques found in this book explain principles and provide different alternatives suited for your needs. Molecular Cloning by Maniatis et al., although needs updating, is still a helpful reference in my opinion and it complements this book.

A Must-Have for any Molecular Biologist...
I originally bought this book as a secondary source of information (Maniatis has ben my bible now for a few years...) but as time has progressed I have found myself using this book more and more. The protocols are easy to follow, logically placed, give enough information so you understand what it is you are doing, are up to date, and are all in one volume. Yes, this has effectively replaced my copy of Molecular Cloning (which is in desperate need of an update). Great job! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Biology, it seems, is a good showcase for the talents of Perl. Newcomers to Perl who understand biological information will find James Tisdall's Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics to be an excellent compendium of examples. Teachers of Perl will likewise find the text to be filled with fresh programming illustrations of growing scientific importance. Seasoned Perlmongers who want to learn biology, however, should search elsewhere, as Tisdall's emphasis is on Perl's logic rather than Mother Nature's.

Departing from O'Reilly's earlier monograph Developing Bioinformatic Computer Skills, Tisdall's text is organized aggressively along didactic lines. Nearly all of the 13 chapters begin with twin bullet lists of Perl programming tools and the bioinformatic methods that require them. Likewise, the chapters end with exercises. String concatenation is illustrated with gene splicing, and regular expressions are taught with gene transcription and motif searching.

Tisdall emphasizes sequence examples throughout, leading up to an introduction to a Perl interface for the NIH GenBank biological database and the widely used BLAST sequence alignment tool. After a brief discussion of three-dimensional protein structure, he returns to sequence extraction and secondary structure prediction.

Tisdall's goal is to boost the beginning programmer into a domain of self-learning. He imparts essential etiquette for the success of programming newbies: use the wealth or resources available, from user documentation to Web site surveys to FAQs to How-To's to news groups and finally to direct personal appeals for help from a senior colleague. A well-plugged-in bioinformatics Perl student will soon discover Bioperl, an open-source effort to bring research-grade bioinformatic tools to the Perl community. Bioperl is described briefly at the end of Tisdall's book and will reportedly be a forthcoming title of its own in the O'Reilly bioinformatics series.

Although he introduces bioinformatics as an academic discipline, Tisdall treats it as a trade throughout his book. He indicates that open questions and computational hard problems exist, but does not describe what they are or how they are being tackled. Ultimately, Tisdall presents bioinformatics as another arrow in a bench scientist's quiver, very much like HPLC, 2D-PAGE, and the various spectroscopies.

As odd as a "bioinformatics-as-tool" book may be to its research proponents, the reduction of bioinformatics to trade status both deflates and vindicates the years of research, as Tisdall's work attests. --Peter Leopold ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Decent intro to the subject
As the banner above the title of James Tisdall's Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics indicates, this book is 'an introduction to Perl for biologists.' What the banner doesn't mention is that it's also an introduction to biology and bioinformatics for Perl programmers, and it's also an introduction to both Perl *and* biology for people that have never really been exposed to either field. The author has clearly thought a lot about making one book to please these different audiences, and he has pulled it off nicely, in a way that manages to explain basic topics to people learning about each field for the first time while not coming off as condescending or slow-paced to those that might already have some exposure to it.

Superficially, this book isn't all that different from a lot of introductory Perl books: the Perl material starts out with an overview of the language, followed by a crash course on installing Perl, writing programs, and running them. From there, it goes on to introduce all the various language constructs, from variables to statements to subroutines, that any programmer is going to have to get comfortable with. Pretty run of the mill so far. Tisdall starts with two interesting assumptions, though: [1] that the reader may have never written a computer program before, and so needs to learn how to engineer a robust application that will do its job efficiently and well, and [2] that the reader wants to know how to write programs that can solve a series of biological problems, specifically in genetics and proteomics.

As such, there is at least as much material about the problems that a biologist faces and the places she can go to get the data she needs as there is about the issues that a Perl programmer needs to be aware of. The author introduces the reader to the basics of DNA chemistry, the cellular processes that convert DNA to RNA and then proteins, and a little bit about how and why this is important to the biologist and what sorts of information would help a biologist's research. The main sources of public genetic data are noted, and the often confusing -- and huge -- datafiles that can be obtained from these sources are examined in detail.

With the code he presents for solving these problems, Tisdall makes a point of not falling into the indecipherable-Perl trap: this is a useful language, well-suited to the essentially text-analysis problems that bioinformatics means, and he doesn't want to encourage the kind of dense, obscure, idiomatic coding style that has given Perl an undeservedly bad reputation. Some of Perl's more esoteric constructs are useful, and they show up when they're needed, but they're left out when they would only serve to confuse the reader. This is a good decision.

Rather, the focus is on teaching readers how to solve biological problems with a carefully developed library of code that happens to leverage some of Perl's most useful properties. The result is pretty much a biologist's edition of Christiansen & Torkington's Perl Cookbook or Dave Cross' Data Munging With Perl. The author presents a series of issues that a working bioinformaticist might have to deal with daily -- parsing over BLAST, GenBank, and PDB files, finding relevant motifs in that parsed data, and preparing reports about all of it. If a bioinformaticist's job is to be able to report on interesting patterns from these various sources, then following the programming techniques that Tisdall explains in clear, easy-to-follow prose would be an excellent way to go about doing it.

And when I say "programming techniques," note that I'm not specifically mentioning Perl. The code in this book is clear and organized, and all programs are carefully decomposed into logical subroutines that are then packaged up into a library file that each later sample program gets to draw from. Each new program typically contains a main section of a dozen lines of code or less, followed by no more than two or three new subroutines, along with calls to routines written earlier and called from the BeginPerlBioinfo.pm that is built up as the book progresses. Each sample is typically preceded by a description of what it's trying to accomplish and followed by a detaild description of how it was done, as well as suggestions of other ways that might have worked or not worked.

This modular approach is fantastic -- too many Perl books seem to focus so heavily on the mechanics of getting short scripts to work that they lose sight of how to build up a suite of useful methods and, from those methods, to develop ever-more-sophisticated applications. It isn't quite object-oriented programming, but that's clearly where Tisdall is headed with these samples, and given a few more chapters he probably would have started formally wrapping some of this code into OO packages.

If I have a complaint with the book, in fact, it's that Tisdall doesn't go any further: everything is good, but it ends too soon. Seemingly important topics such as OO programming, XML, graphics (charts & GUIs), CGI, and DBI are mentioned only in passing, under "further topics" in the last chapter. I also have a feeling that some of the biology was shorted, and the book barely touches upon the statistical analysis that probably is a critical aspect of the advanced bioinformaticist's toolbox. I can understand wanting to keep the length of a beginner's book relatively short, and this was probably the right decision, but it would have been nice to see some of the earlier sample problems revisited in these new contexts by, for example, formally making an OO library, showing a sample program that provided a web interface to some of the methods already written, or presenting code that presented results as XML or exchanged them with a database.

But these are minor quibbles, and if the reader is comfortable with the material up to this point, she shouldn't have a hard time figuring out how to go a step further and do these things alone. It's a solid book, and one that should be able to get people learning Perl, genetics, or both up to speed and working on real world problems quickly.

No need to have any previous programming knowledge
I had zero programming experience when I started reading this book. It allowed me, step by step, to get familiar with the language and start writing programs related to the field I am interested in.
It is fun and very helpful. You don't feel the frustration of being lost in the middle of unreadable code. The comments and explanations to the programs are great. It allows you to start learning the simple things first and then, as you get familiar with the language, go into more detail.
You can chose, as the author suggests, to go sometimes to the Perl documentation and read about the operators or functions introduced in the different programs; but what is great about the book is that you are given examples and exercises to use them. This is really the way to learn.

OK tutorial. Poor reference.
I have used this book in a beginning Perl programming course for biology majors. While it is good if you sift through it from start to the end, I often found it impossible to find things when I needed to go back to remind myself of something. The index does not help, and there is no concise language reference anywhere.

Also, I do not like the fact that it uses "quick and dirty" Perl (no "use strict" pragma). While it might be less confusing to skip it at the very beginning, very soon students start to waste too much precious class time trying to locate bugs that would make the program not compile with "use strict" in the first place (e.g. mistyped variable names).

Good intro for biologists;poor intro for computer scientists
"Bioinformatics" is the new sexy term for what used to be called simply "computational biology". Simply put, it involves pretty much any application of computation techniques to biological problems. The reason for the new nomenclature and the greatly increased interest in the topic is, like much in modern biology, a more-or-less direct consequence of the many genome sequencing projects of the last decade.

The consensus in the field seems to be that it's more productive (and certainly easier) to teach biologists how to program, rather than try to get programmers up to speed on the intracities of molecular biology. For similar reasons, Perl is a popular language to learn: it's easy to get off the ground and be productive with it, without requiring a heavy computer science background. (This, of course, has downsides as well...)

Never one to miss out on a trend, I'm going to be teaching a course on Bioperl and advanced Perl programming, starting next fall, which means I'm doing a lot of reading in this topic area, trying to develop lectures and find good background reading material. One of the first books I grabbed was _Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics_, which has been sitting on my "to read" shelf since O'Reilly sent me a review copy in December of 2001. It's a typical O'Reilly "animal" book (the cover bears three tadpoles), which does a decent job of introducing the basic features of the Perl language, and it should enable a dedicated student to get to the point where she can produce small useful programs. However, I'm not completely happy about the book's organization, and I think the occasional "if you're not a biologist, here's some background" interjections could have been cut without hurting anything.

The initial chapters in the book cover "meta" information, such as theoretical limits to computation, installing (or finding) the Perl interpreter on your computer, picking a text editor, and locating on-line documentation. Some general programming theory stuff is covered as well -- the code-run-debug cycle, top-down versus bottom-up design, the use of pseudocode. There's also some biology background, but it's very introductory level stuff -- DNA has four bases, proteins are made of 20 amino acids, and so on.

In chapter four, the book begins to get into actual Perl, with some coverage of string manipulation. Examples deal with simulating the transcription of DNA into RNA. Chapters five and six continue to flesh out the language, covering loops, basic file I/O, and subroutines. Chapter seven introduces the rand() function, in the context of simulating mutations in DNA. Subsequent chapters introduce the hash data type (using a RNA->protein translation simulation), regular expressions (as a way to store the recognition patterns of restriction endonucleases), and parsing database flat files and BLAST program output.

I'm clearly out of the target audience of the book, as I already have a strong working knowledge of Perl. Perhaps that's why I found the order that concepts were presented in to be a bit strange -- for example, hashes, which are a fundamental data type, aren't introduced until halfway through the book, and regular expressions (one of the key features of Perl) first appear even later. As I said above, I also found the biological background sections to be more distracting than anything, but I've also got a strong biology background, so perhaps I'm off base here too. That said, I think a person with a CS background would be better served with a copy of _Learning Perl_ and an introductory molecular biology text than with this particular book.

One of the things I did enjoy about the book were the frequent coding examples, all of which presented realistic computational biology sorts of problems and then demonstrated how to solve them. I'm sure that when I get around to writing lectures, I'll be leafing through this book looking for problems I can use in class.

Overall, recommended for biologists without programming experience who would like to get started using Perl for simple programming. Not recommended for people with computer science backgrounds looking to get into bioinformatics.

Great introduction
This is the first book that I read about Perl and also the first one that I read about Bioinformatics. I think it has an enough level of details so that readers who have little or no Bioinformatics background can easily understand the basics, and readers who wants to focus more on Perl usage in Bioinformatics can also get quick and useful examples such as interpreting BLAST output, and regular expressions. ... Read more

Book Description

Oxford University Press is proud to present GENES VII--the latest edition of Benjamin Lewin's best-selling textbook. This authoritative work provides an integrated account of the structure and function of genes and incorporates all the latest research in the field.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REORGANIZATION TO DATE

The power of direct analysis of the genome has made a significant difference in the approach of GENES VII. In a departure from previous editions, which started with a traditional analysis of formal genetics, the new edition begins with the molecular properties of the gene itself. The text is now reorganized to begin with the concept of genes as a segment of DNA coding for protein, and then proceeds directly to the characterization of the genome in terms of its content of genes.

INTEGRATED APPROACH

GENES VII first explains the structure and function of the gene as a means to revealing the operation of the genome as a whole, and offers an integrated approach to prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The gene is considered from all aspects, including:

* Basic forms

* The numbers and relationships among genes in a genome

* Their packaging into chromosomes

* The process of gene expression from transcription through translation

* The reproduction and safeguarding of the gene structure

* Aspects of the overall circuitry through which genotype determines phenotype

STREAMLINED, FULL-COLOR DESIGN

GENES VII has been considerably restructured and reorganized to highlight the latest research and technology. It contains more that 800 full color illustrations that are extremely useful in teaching the key concepts presented in the book.

GENES VII CONTAINS NEW, GROUNDBREAKING INFORMATION ON:

* New technologies that count and compare expressed genes

* Accessory proteins (chaperones)

* The role of the proteasome

* Licensing

* Reverse translocation

* Connections between repair and recombination systems and human diseases

* Connections between the structure of chromosomal material and control of gene expression in eukaryotes

* The process of X chromosome inactivation

* Imprinting

* Control of gene expression by epigenetic changes

* The enzymatic activities that control chromatin structure and affect the regulatory process

* Archeael enzymes

* The mechanism of RNA editing in lower eukaryotes

* The role of RAG genes

* Interactions within and between pathways

* The use of protein degradation to control passage through the cell cycle

* Programmed cell death

* Telomerase and its role in carcinogenesis. And much more! ... Read more

Reviews (21)

It's earned a spot on my bookshelf
Although many of my college textbooks have been packed away into neat little boxes and shoved into an attic, this one sits on my shelf and will be called into duty in the future. In an ideal world, the author would have written just for me: reordered the chapters, gone into greater detail for some topics and less for others, and inserted images that pertained to the level of detail I needed. However, the world isn't ideal. The book comes as close as any text can to meeting the needs of readers who need the book as a fundamental learning aid and as a reference guide. However, although it's jam-packed with information, it's a little tedious reading through the elementary text to get to what you need. Perhaps he needs to split the book into two texts: an Introductory Genes (Green Genes?) and an advanced text. Overall, worth the money.

Thumbs down from a frustrated professor
Lewin's Genes series has dominated the market in Molecular Biology textbooks ... Unfortunately, its monopoly status seems to have insulated Lewin, his illustrators, and his editors from the corrective influences of a competitive market...so far.

I am in my second year of teaching from this book and I find it very frustrating. Lewin's writing style is unclear, difficult and distracting. Tangential ideas and subjects appear out of nowhere in the middle of chapters for no logical reason. As I write this, I should be preparing my lecture for Chapter 26 (Signal transduction). Why does this chapter start with a discussion of transporters? Later parts contain sentences that are almost unreadable and way too much detail about the alphabet soup of different kinases.

Although it is much better than some earlier editions, Genes VII still contains a variety of major and minor errors, including serious problems in explaining how lagging strand DNA synthesis is coordinated in the replication fork - several experts tell me that the model in figure 13.16 is simply wrong. The holoenyme does not lose one of its catalytic subunits with each cycle of Okazaki fragment synthesis. The clamp simply lets go and the clamp loader grabs the next fragment with a new clamp. I realized this semester that I had been ignoring the book and teaching what I knew from seminars.

Even when the content they describe is basically correct, figures in Genes VII can be astonishingly bad. Homologous recombination is illustrated with DNA strands that are only color coded and where the 5' and 3' ends are not labeled (Chapter 14). Unlabeled spliceosomal proteins change their color codes in the middle of the pathway - transesterification to form the lariat also seems to change U2 into U1 (Figure 22.10).

I am hoping that one of the newer competitors for Genes VII will prove to be a suitable replacement. I am examining Robert Weaver's Molecular Biology - I like what I've read so far - and should get a review copy of T.A. Brown's Genomes soon. ...Disclaimer - I have no financial interest in the success of any of these. All of them are available on Amazon.

By the way, I do have a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. I'm not an expert in all of the material covered by Genes VII, but I was trained in labs whose work is cited in Genes VII.

the best book
In my opinion it is the best book i have partly read by far and every time when i have a free time i intrestingly like to read this book. In fact, i have found it very usefull to undrestand basic meaning of celular and molecular phenomenons and genes.

Great book
This book is well written and provides an excellent introduction to the subject matter. It's a comprehensive text for anyone who wishes to gain a thorough exposure to the genes, genomes and gene regulation. However, this book does have it's drawbacks. Recent advances in genomics maybe covered on a later textbook. Perfect for an undergraduate or a beginning grad student. I suggest this book as a companion for a more comprehesive text such MBOC by alberts et al. If you are faced with a choice of either alberts or Genes VII, I suggest alberts. For the seasoned molecular biologist I urge you to look elsewhere.

Good
This book is useful but if your new to genetics and want a nice reference book that is easy to read I recommend "Concepts of Genetics" by Klug and Cummings. I have the 6th version and even though it is not as popular as Lewin's texts it reads well and has great pictures. ... Read more

Book Description

The application of computational methods to DNA and protein science is a new and exciting development in biology. Bioinformatics: Sequence and Genome Analysis is a comprehensive introduction to this emerging field of study. The book has many unique and valuable features:

It is written for any biologist who wants to understand methods of sequence and structure analysis and how the necessary computer programs work

Sequence alignment, structure prediction, phylogenetic and gene prediction, database searching, and genome analysis are clearly explained and amply illustrated

Underlying algorithms and assumptions are clearly explained for the non-specialist

Examples are presented in simple numerical terms rather than complex formulas and notation

Theoretical underpinnings are linked to biological problems and their solutions

Extensive tables provide descriptions and Web sources for a broad range of publicly available software

Based on the author's extensive experience as a molecular geneticist and bioinformaticist at the University of Arizona, this is a uniquely educational book, ideal as a laboratory reference for investigators and also as teaching reference for graduate and undergraduate students studying this fast-changing discipline. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

good for computational biologist
If you are a biologist and just want to know some background information of how to apply bioinformatics to your research, do not read this book. My recommendation for you is "developing bioinformatics computer skills" and some other books like that.
If you are a student or scientist who study bioinformatics, this book is an excellent book and really worthy to read. This books gives very detailed information on algorithm to help us understand how the software such as BLAST and FASTA are designed. The illustrations are easy to understand compared with other books I have read, especially for the statistics part of any algorithm.
One weak point is that the book focus on nucleic acid sequence analysis while talk little about protein.

Horrible. A lot better books should be available nowadays
In short, the author does not have enough writing skill to write this text book.

I purchased this book a while ago. At that time, the book was really difficult to read. I thought that it is because I do not have enough knowledge to understand the material. So I stopped reading this book and studied bioinformatics by other means.

After gaining enough knowledge in bioinformatics, I re-opened this book, and it is funny to find that I still have the same amount of difficulty in understanding what the author wrote about topics that I have already built good understanding. Reading this book will only deteriorate one's understanding.

Several years ago, only just a few books were available on the market, so one needed to purchase this book. These days, there are lots of varieties to choose, and any choice is likely to be better than this book.

Horrible
While this book may, and I stress the word may, contain useful information, it is so badly written that it is incomprehensible. Dr. Mount seems to believe that ten words are better than one, making "Bioinformatics" very tedious to read. After awhile I felt like I was reading a Victorian novel.
Despite being wordy, the explanations are too brief and not clear. If you don't know what he is talking about before hand, you will never understand what he is explaining. He uses an excess of words, and rarely provides a clear, concise example of what he is referring to (or if he does it is in another chapter in the book).
It also appears that the book was never edited. For example, when trying to define "ortholog" and "homolog," he writes two opposing definitions for ortholog and none for homolog. Clearly this is a mistake and Dr. Mount accidentally used the word ortholog twice while meaning to use ortholog once and homolog the other time (pg 56). While it can be argued that this mistake is unimportant and the reader can look up the definitions, it makes me wonder what else in the book is wrong that I have no way of detecting (until I waste a bunch of time doing something incorrectly).

Strong foundation builder
This book will give you very strong foundations in
the basics of computation in the bio world. Though
this book does not give details of the computation
methods, it does give a very clear picture of math-
ematics and the science involved.

This book has a good coverage of FASTA and
BLAST. (Though a little bit short)

The programming techniques coverd are bare. Though
concepts like searching sequences using dynamic p-
rogramming are covered, you are better off reading
something like Proteome Research by wilkins et al.

I am yet to find a good book that deals only with
the technical and programming aspects of bio informatics
if you do find some thing interesting lemme know.

On the whole this book helped me understand a lot
about sequencing, alignment and prediction. The illustrations
and pictures provided are good and the text to the point.

If you are reading this review pls understand that I am
primarily a programmer trying to get into the
bio informatics business. I do not have any schooling
or degree or even experience in the bio informatics world.

Hope this helps

Santy

whatever
Decent qualitative overview. Some discussions of algorithms are so superficial that they are misleading. Slick presentation. Used at Stanford's intro to methods course - a good recommendation.

So far, the best there is for a survey course - but for depth and accuracy in sequence analysis algorithms, go to Durbin et al or Gussfield. ... Read more

Book Description

Pharmaceutical companies continue to face a growing need for scientists trained in the basics of pharmacology. At GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceuticals world-leader, Terry Kenakin regularly teaches this course and has drawn on his valuable experience to write A Pharmacology Primer. This guide has been designed especially for scientists trained in molecular biology and related fields who now need to know the basic theories, principles and practical applications of pharmacology.

Important chapters cover: Drug Receptor Theory; Drug Antagonism; The Drug Discovery Process; Pharmacological Assay Formats; Statistics & Experimental Design; and many more!

A Pharmacology Primer is stocked with helpful resources -- derivations of all formulae in every chapter, a glossary and appendices, scores of full-color illustrations -- that further enhance the value and utility of this book.

*185 illustrations and figures, four-color throughout
*Bulleted lists at the end of each section sum up main topics
*Glossary of Pharmacological Terms included for quick reference ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A very well written pharmacology primer.
Dr. Kenakin's book is a well written primer for scientists who already have some familiarity with the topic at hand. It reviews the essentials of pharmacology starting with the basics such as potency, affinity and efficacy and continues with discussions of partial agonists, receptor theory and expression of recombinant receptors in heterologous systems. Each chapter has a short summary and has the derivations of the key equations for those so interested. Excellent resource! ... Read more

Book Description

"PCR: the basics" is the ideal practical introduction to PCR practices in the laboratory. By providing basic theory, background material and suggestions for suitable protocols, it enables a novice to become a proficient user of many PCR techniques. Coverage includes: * Experimental aspects * Analyzing and manipulating PCR products * Genome analysis * Gene cloning and manipulation * Gene expression and medical diagnosis "PCR: the basics" is invaluable for undergraduates, graduates, or experienced researchers who are about to undertake PCR for the first time. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

PCR for beginners: A must-have !
This book explains really good all the basics of the PCR.
For the beginning PhD student, or even before, all you need to know and even more is inside. Some applications are more complicated, but the book is never too difficult to understand.
A must-have!!

Great Book on PCR
This book is a great practical introduction to PCR. It truly does cover the full spectrum of PCR topics from background to benchtop (real-world) applications. It is very clearly written and easy to understand. I own about 10 books on basic and advanced PCR methods, and this one is by far the best. If you want a clear, concise, comprehensive introduction to PCR, this book is it.

PCR is Good
PCR by McPherson and Moeller, is a great great little book that addresses the practical and theoretical aspects of the polymerase chain reaction. The fundamental aspects of PCR, ranging from reagents and instrumentation, to PCR optimization, to the analysis of genomes, are outlined in each of 10 chapters with companion protocols for each application. Each technique is explained with clarity and numerous illustrations greatly aid in the understanding. I tried personally the "SOEing" method to generate a deletion mutants and it worked to perfection. Another great feature of this book is that it explains many of the potential pitfalls associated with PCR technology in a very comprehensive manner, and gives simple solutions to remedy these problems. PCR has been around for some 15 years, and the many applications of this revolutionary technique have often been overlooked due to the sheer number; PCR takes many of these new applications and makes them simple for the reader, and in that it constitutes one of the more comprehensive educational books on the subject. PCR will surely simplify the task of students and veteran molecular biologists alike, and for these reasons I highly recommend it.

Attention All Molecular Biologists
This book is ideal for both students and experienced researchers. In addition to covering the basic and theoretical aspects of PCR, the book also describes cutting-edge PCR methods and applications. It's nice to have such a comprehensive, up-to-date book on PCR. The clarity of the text made for enjoyable reading. This is a must for students and any molecular biology laboratory. Happy Reading! ... Read more

Book Description

This book describes the dynamics of evolutionary change at the molecular level, the driving forces behind the evolutionary process, the effects of the various molecular mechanisms on the structure of genes, proteins, and genomes, the methodology involved in dealing with molecular data from an evolutionary perspective, and the logic of molecular hypothesis testing. The Second Edition incorporates newly acquired evolutionary insight from genome projects involving bacteria, plants, and animals, as well as analytical tools that have been developed and perfected in the last decade, and has been brought up to date in line with the many advances in genomics, protein engineering, computational biology, and bioinformatics.

The authors explain evolutionary phenomena at the molecular level in a way that can be understood without much prerequisite knowledge of molecular biology, evolution, or mathematics. Both mathematical and intuitive explanations are provided, and examples that support and clarify the many theoretical arguments and methodological discussions are included. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

C value Chart
Its a pretty ok book. They didn't do alot of true research for it. They did alot of "adaptist story telling" in the book. For example: In the chart about C value. They took a chart from another reference and they called Amphiuma means a newt. Amphiuma means i by no means a newt. Its a long aquatic salamander with 4 small useless legs and gill slits.

Very interesting...
I read this book for pleasure, and I found it very informative since I was interested in the subject matter prior to buying it. It is mathematically intense at parts, and I skipped those parts. Well worth the money if you have a passion or budding interest in this field.

In depth, informative
This is a very complex, indepth, informative book on molecular and genetic evolution. Explainations of genetic drift, mutation rates, times to fixation, patterns in evolutionary changes. Lots of statistical information on how allele frequencies change. Written for a knowledgable audiance with a good understanding of evolution and genetics. Gives informative understanding of trends in evolution beyond natural selection. Supports neutral theory of evolution quite strongly. ... 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

Genomes 2 covers modern molecular genetics from the genomics perspective, incorporating major advances made in the past three years, including the sequencing of the human genome, characterization of genome expression
and replication processes, and transcriptomics and proteomics. The text is richly illustrated with clear, easy-to-follow, full-color diagrams, which are downloadable from the book's website (www.wiley.com/brown).
... Read more

Reviews (14)

Where's the genome?
On the basis of a favorable "Nature Genetics" review, I bought the first edition of this book--and I was quite disappointed with what I found. Basically, it is just another text on molecular & cell biology but with lousy graphics. (The author explicitly states that the figures and other visualizations somehow limit one's learning & thinking.) I am hoping the recent crops of explicit genomics-oriented texts will be better. But I'd steer clear of this one.

Excellent General Overview of Genomics
I found that "Genomes" provides the reader with a thorough yet gentle introduction to the field -- ample illustrations, well-written text, frequent sidebars describing relevant techniques or developments. I've found the book to be a good reference to have on the shelf, and have purchased copies for people when they join my lab group in order to introduce them to or refamiliarize themselves with the technologies underlying the generation of sequence data. I can very easily see this book being used to supplement lectures in an introductory course on genomics and biotechnology.

Useful Text
"...probably the most up-to-date textbook on molecular biology...a useful text...and reference..." (Annals of Pharmacotherapy, September 2003)

Marvelous Text
"...a marvelous text...plenty of definitions and excellent illustrations essential for an introductory textbook...the reader is...guided wonderfully through the text...this text is an essential cornerstone of information..." (Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 19, No. 12, December 2002)

User Friendly
"...a second edition to incorporate new developments in genome science and to make the book more 'user friendly'...the book substantially exceeds that modest objective; this is a text suitable for anyone who does not specialize in genome science." (Clinical Chemistry, Vol. 48, No. 12) ... Read more

Book Description

Wiley is proud to announce the publication of the first ever broad-based textbook introduction to Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics by a trained biologist, experienced researcher, and award-winning instructor. In this new text, author Jonathan Pevsner, winner of the 2001 Johns Hopkins University "Teacher of the Year" award, explains problem-solving using bioinformatic approaches using real examples such as breast cancer, HIV-1, and retinal-binding protein throughout. His book includes 375 figures and over 170 tables. Each chapter includes: Problems, discussion of Pitfalls, Boxes explaining key techniques and math/stats principles, Summary, Recommended Reading list, and URLs for freely available software. The text is suitable for professionals and students at every level, including those with little to no background in computer science. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Highly Recommended
"...an intriguing work targeted toward biologists wanting to solve problems...provides a compendium of many biological insights and breakthroughs and will be a useful resource...highly recommended." (Choice, Vol. 41, No. 7, March 2004)

Excellent for bioinformatics from a user's perspective
Unlike the previous review, I found the user perspective, rather than the mathematical perspective refreshing. I have been teaching bioinformatics to CS students for several years and all too often the students are great at algorithms and theory but do not understand the user they are designing for. This book teaches just that -- how to use bioinformatics from a user or researcher's viewpoint. Medical students and biologists will find it useful for direct applicability to their work, but I also reccomend it for bioinformatics students who need to complement their theoretical background with practical use. All too often, CS students of bioinformatics can design a great database with powerful access tools, but with a horrible interface because they don't have this perspective.

Now, for the book itself. It is easy to read and covers all aspects of bioinformatics from a sequence perspective (information retrieval, BLAST, gene expression and microarrays, proteomics and protein bioinformatics, genomes and disease). The coverage of databases and URLs is thourough and the text is easy to read, yet useful. The book is comprehensive with one area seemingly missing -- it would have been useful to include a chapter on systems biology and/or cellular modeling and the tools available (i.e. E-Cell). The book is especially useful to a researcher who is trying to explore all aspects of a particular gene, protein, disease, or pathway using bioinformatics tools.

The book is in stark contrast to the other Pevser (that is Pevzner) who wrote a bioinformatics book that surveyed algorithm theory underlying bioinformatics.

This book is also useful for less technical professionals in industry -- the managers, lawyers and venture capitalists that pervade the biotech landscape all need to communicate effectively and they can surely learn that here, provided they have some background in cell biology first.

Bioinformatics for computational dummies
A genious attempt to present bioinformatics as if it is a discipline without any computational content. Perfect for students who lost any hope to understand what is the engine driving bioinformatics tools but want simply to memorize how to use them instead. Must be a very comfortable reading for biologists but is as exciting as a long carefully designed restaurant menu for a mathematician. If the author wants to raise a new generation of biologists with this book then biology and *real* bioinformatics will be divorced forever. ... 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

iGenetics: A Molecular Approach reflects the dynamic nature of modern genetics by emphasizing an experimental, inquiry-based approach with a solid treatment of many research experiments. Genetics: An Introduction, DNA: The Genetic Material, DNA Replication, Gene Control of Proteins, Gene Expression: Transcription, Gene Expression: Translation, DNA Mutation, DNA Repair, and Transposable Elements, Recombinant DNA Technology, Applications of Recombinant DNA Technology, Genomics, Mendelian Genetics, Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance,Extensions of Mendelian Genetic Principles, Quantitative Genetics, Gene Mapping in Eukaryotes, Advanced Gene Mapping in Eukaryotes, Variation in Chromosome Number and Structure, Genetic Analysis of Bacteria and Bacteriophages, Regulation Of Gene Expression In Bacteria And Bacteriophages, Regulation Of Gene Expression In Eukaryotes, Genetic Analysis Of Development, Genetics Of Cancer, Non-Mendelian Inheritance, Population Genetics, Molecular Evolution. For all readers interested in learning the central concepts of genetics.

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

This volume commemorates the 50th anniversary of the appearance in Volume 4 in 1948 of Dr. Jeffries Wyman's famous paper in which he "laid down" the foundations of linkage thermodynamics. Experts in this area contribute articles on the state-of-the-art of this important field and on new developments of the original theory. Among the topics covered in this volume are electrostatic contributions to molecular free energies in solution; site-specific analysis of mutational effects in proteins; allosteric transitions of the acetylcholine receptor; and deciphering the molecular code of hemoglobin allostery. ... 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

Massive data acquisition technologies--such as genome sequencing, high-throughput drug screening, and DNA arrays--are in the process of revolutionizing biology and medicine. This concise, user-friendly and interdisciplinary guide to DNA microarray technology is an introduction and a reference for both biologists and computational scientists.The authors describe the underlying technologies and offer an awareness of the "noise" and pitfalls present in the data generated. They also provide an idea of the different data mining techniques and algorithms that are available to interpret data, and the advantages and disadvantages of each in differing situations. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent book. Recommended.
This book has a good balance between experimental and computational methods. It provides a description of DNA microarray technologies, experimental protocols, and the multiple sources of noise and variability. The book contains an insightful overview of the computational issues and available algorithms for data analysis from differential expression, to dimensionality reduction and visualization (e.g. PCA), to clustering (e.g. hierarchical). New methods are described to gether with a good overview of available software, data bases, web sites, and other resources, as well as several "walk through" examples. I particularly enjoyed the last chapter on Systems Biology.

By far the best book on DNA microarrays.
"Very complete : covers both the experimental and the computational methods with specific examples. Written by two top scientists who have worked hard at complementing each other's strengths. I particularly enjoyed the last chapter on Systems Biology which provides a masterful overview of current resaerch trends." ... Read more

Book Description

Within the past decade, molecular systematic methods have been applied in most fields of biology to provide an evolutionary framework whenever comparisons are made among individuals, populations, or higher taxa. The first edition of Molecular Systematics became a standard reference for this vigorous field by describing each aspect of the planning, execution, and analysis of a molecular systematic study. The new edition updates and expands this coverage, and includes considerable information on new molecular techniques and methods of analysis.

Molecular Systematics includes chapters on sampling design, the collection and storage of tissues, each of the major molecular techniques, and intraspecific and phylogenetic analysis. The sampling chapters describe how to plan a study and how to collect, transport, and store the appropriate tissues for each study. The techniques chapters cover principles, assumptions, applications, limitations, and pr