Life sciences: general issues

In this volume of Methods in Molecular Biology(TM), expert investigators offer comprehensive, complementary, and cutting-edge technologies for studies of gene regulation.

Continuing the research of the best-selling first edition, Patch-Clamp Analysis: Advanced Techniques, Second Edition collects three more years of research in the ever-expanding study of the cell membrane.

Only in recent times has the possibility of growing and implanting replacement teeth, made from one's own cells, moved into the realm of realistic possibilities; however, the molecular and cellular mechanisms of tooth development must be studied in a range of vertebrates, from zebrafish to mice, so that evolutionarily conserved network kernels, which will define the cellular states of generic vertebrate tooth development, can be recognized.

Movement is the way that animals interact with their environment and is under the organization and complex control of the brain and spinal cord.

As an extension of artificial intelligence research, artificial neural networks (ANN) aim to simulate intelligent behavior by mimicking the way that biological neural networks function.

Our understanding of addiction and how it is treated has advanced remarkably over the past decades, and much of the progress is related directly to animal research.

Over the past 40 years the field of molecular simulations has evolved from picosecond studies of isolated macromolecules in vacuum to studies of complex, chemically heterogeneous biological systems consisting of millions of atoms, with the simulation time scales spanning up to milliseconds.

The field of epigenetics has played a major role at the forefront not only of molecular biology, but also of medical genetics and clinical medicine.

As fMRI technology has provided invaluable insights into the mechanisms through which the human brain works in healthy individuals and in patients with different neurological and psychiatric conditions, the study of brain function and even the monitoring of the effects of treatment have become more effective and efficient.

The use of RNAi technology is essential for most plant science researchers.

Since its first application, microdialysis has become incredibly popular to study brain function and has been applied with success in different fields from psychopharmacology, neurobiology, and physiology in animals and also humans.

At the intersection of metabolite analysis, metabolic fingerprinting, and metabolomics, the study of metabolic profiling has evolved steadily over the course of time as have the methods and technologies involved in its study.

As increasing global population and continuing economic development ensure the need for further production and cultivation of maize, the necessity of the application of transgenic technology to this model species and crop plant grows steadily.

Since the discovery of microRNAs, developmental biologists have striven to understand the role of miRNAs in development and disease.

As two of the leading causes of death worldwide, heart disease and stroke represent a clear target for genomic research aimed at deciphering the genes and cellular pathways that underlie cardiovascular disease and creating improved therapies.

Having experienced unprecedented growth since the turn of the millennium, the dramatic expansion of resources and techniques in fungal genomics is poised to fundamentally redefine the study of fungal biology.

The feld of proteomics moves rapidly.

Since the conception of this acclaimed series of volumes examining neural tissue culture, the expansion of neuroscience has continued to produce vital discoveries that utilize tissue culture methodologies.

Neuroprotection is a topic of great importance in current neuroscience, both basic and clinical.

While extremely large datasets describing gene sequences, mRNA transcripts, protein abundance, and metabolite concentrations are increasingly commonplace, these represent only starting 'parts lists' that are usually insufficient to unlock mechanistic insights on their own right.

The development of ocean sensors remains a ripe area for future investigation from science, policy and systemsengineering standpoints.

The emerging field of prenatal gene therapy is founded on scientific and technical advances in fetal medicine, molecular biology and gene therapy.

Homologous recombination is important in various aspects of DNA metabolism, including damage repair, replication, telomere maintenance, and meiosis, and yeast genetics has successfully provided a framework for the mechanism of homologous recombination.

Significant advancements have been made in the study of chromatin structure and function over the past fifty years but none as spectacular as those made in the last decade due to the development of novel techniques and the ability to sequence large stretches of DNA.

In Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation, renowned authors present current technical approaches to most aspects of post-transcriptional control and provide a useful and versatile laboratory bench resource.

Preclinical research related to mood and anxiety disorders relies extensively upon mouse behavioral tests and models, the use of which continues to increase as a greater number of underlying susceptibility genes are discovered, new targets for medications are identified, and clinical studies reveal novel neurobiological risk factors.

Prion Protein Protocols brings together a collection of current protocols in the field of mammalian prion disease research.

Today, progress in rAAV-mediated gene transfer is so robust that long-term, efficient, and regulatable transgene expression is reproducibly achieved in large animal models.

Min Li and a panel of hands-on experimentalists detail state-of-the-art molecular techniques for studying NMDA ligand-gated ion channels and developing assays for nontherapeutic lead selection.

The aim of Circadian Rhythms is to provide a resource that can be adopted by several types of users: those who are new to circadian biology, those who are already active in the field but are interested in learning new techniques and researchers who are considering moving to a new a model system or undertaking comparative studies and would like to consult protocols applied to different organisms before starting the study of new species.

Dopamine, a catecholamine transmitter, plays a number of vital physiological roles in the brain and body, and, in recent years, studies on the role of dopamine in disease have opened new avenues of research and discovery.

In Gene Therapy Protocols, Volumes 1 & 2, internationally recognized investigators describe cutting-edge laboratory techniques for the study of Production and In Vivo Applications of Gene Transfer Vectors (Volume 1) and Design and Characterization of Gene Transfer Vectors (Volume 2).

Animal models of schizophrenia and other major psychiatric disorders have been sought for decades, and, as a result, we are now facing new vistas on pathophysiology that could lead to novel therapeutic approaches and even hint at possible preventive strategies.

Laser microdissection techniques have revolutionized the ability of researchers in general, and pathologists in particular, to carry out molecular analysis on specific types of normal and diseased cells and to fully utilize the power of current molecular technologies including PCR, microarrays, and proteomics.

Major advances in molecular biology, alternative RNA splicing, protein processing, identification of gene control elements, transgenic animals and bioinformatics open up multiple research avenues and allow for better understanding of neuropeptide production and function.

Visualization of chemicals in tissues has seen incredible advances in the past several years.

Understanding gene expression and how it changes under normal and pathological conditions is essential to our understanding of the fundamentals of cell biology through to the targeted treatment of disease.

In view of the numerous failures of clinical trials aimed at improving stroke therapy, the role and potential benefit of experimentally modeling focal cerebral ischemia in rodents has been debated.

In the past few years, the application of proteomics to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying (mal-)functioning of the nervous system and brain disorders has risen steeply, which in many cases has yielded novel insights.

The small fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has for over a century now had a large impact on biological and biomedical research; however, our knowledge of the fly brain has lagged significantly behind our understanding of other aspects of its development, physiology, and function.

Small molecule microarrays (SMM) were introduced just a decade ago in 1999 and, within a short space of time, have already established themselves as a vibrant, next generation platform for high-throughput screening.

At the time of the lightbulb's invention, not even the most imaginative thinkers could have predicted the prevention and treatment of disease through genes delivered by electric fields.

Plants have evolved an amazing array of metabolic pathways leading to molecules capable of responding promptly and effectively to stress situations imposed by biotic and abiotic factors, some of which supply the ever-growing needs of humankind for natural chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, agrochemicals, food and chemical additives, biofuels, and biomass.

Together with early theoretical work in population genetics, the debate on sources of genetic makeup initiated by proponents of the neutral theory made a solid contribution to the spectacular growth in statistical methodologies for molecular evolution.

Immunoinformatics: Predicting Immunogenicity In Silico is a primer for researchers interested in this emerging and exciting technology and provides examples in the major areas within the field of immunoinformatics.

Since each human is genetically distinctive, responding differently to disease-causing factors as well as drugs, the field pharmacogenomics arose to develop personalized medicine, or medicine that deals with the complexity of the human body.

The rapid identification and characterization of genes of neurological relevance holds great potential for offering insight into the diagnosis, management, and und- standing of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of neurological diseases.

Through many recent remarkable developments, perhaps the most significant advancements in the study of transcriptional regulation are the development of genome-wide approaches for measuring gene expression, exemplified by gene chips (chip), and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays (ChIP) for measuring in vivo protein-DNA interactions at any genomic loci.