As the major task of sequencing the human genome is near completion and full complement of human genes are catalogued, attention will be focused on the ultimate goal: to understand the normal biological functions of these genes, and how alterations lead to disease states.
This completely revised and updated second edition to integrates the many new technologies and insights now available for the diagnosis of genetic diseases.
In 1996, we organized a workshop, inter alia, at the National Research Co- cil in Milan under the generous sponsorship of the European Science Foun- tion.
The new techniques of molecular cytogenetics, mainly fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of DNA probes to metaphase chromosomes or interphase nuclei, have been developed in the past two decades.
Chromosomes, as the genetic vehicles, provide the basic material for a large proportion of genetic investigations, from the construction of gene maps and models of chromosome organization, to the inves- tigation of gene function and dysfunction.
Detection and analysis of DNA damage is of critical importance in a variety of biological disciplines studying apoptosis, cell cycle and cell di- sion, carcinogenesis, tumor growth, embryogenesis and aging, neu- degenerative and heart diseases, anticancer drug development, environmental and radiobiological research, and others.
The discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) as a methodology for gene silencing has revolutionized biological research, providing an invaluable avenue for therapeutics, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) is the most common strategy utilized for enacting RNAi.
Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have become the markers of choice for a variety of molecular studies because of their versatility, operational flexibility, and lower cost than other marker systems.
Understanding an individual's genetic makeup is the key to creating personalized drugs with greater efficacy and safety, and pharmacogenomics aims to study the complex genetic basis of inter-patient variability in response to drug therapy.
MicroRNAs constitute a particularly important class of small RNAs given their abundance, broad phylogenetic conservation and strong regulatory effects, with plant miRNAs uniquely divulging their ancient evolutionary origins and their strong post-transcriptional regulatory effects.
RNA interference has become a key method in the suppression of gene expression and the development of therapeutic agents, yet there is still the problem of delivery, stability, and the danger of off-target effects such as the silencing of unwanted genes and activation of innate immunity.
The completion of a consensus draft sequence for the human genome was the starting point for more thorough investigations of individual genome variation.
Chemical genomics technology has been steadily improving, delivering new biological probes and drugs, and the explicit use of the term 'chemical proteomics' has increased with it, as proteins have always been at the heart of this technology.
Cancer Genomics and Proteomics: Methods and Protocols provides a compendium of techniques and applications that will be of profound use to researchers interested in gene identification and function.
MRSA Protocols for Methods in Molecular Biology provides a comprehensive collection of the most up-to-date techniques for the detection and investigation of MRSA.
Not only is the quantity of life science data expanding, but new types of biological data continue to be introduced as a result of technological development and a growing understanding of biological systems.
Arising from firm foundations laid by mathematical population genetics, clinical genetics, and statistical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology attempts to identify the many components of riskattributable to genes, environments, and interactions, and the course of its research can follow many diverse paths.
Adenovirus Methods and Protocols, Second Edition, now in two volumes, is an essential resource for adenovirus (Ad) researchers beginning in the field, and an inspirational starting point for researchers looking to branch into new areas of Ad study.
Featuring current resources used to discover new legume family genes and to understand genes and their interactions, Legume Genomics: Methods and Protocols provides techniques from expert researchers to study these plants that are so vitally important for food, feed, human nutrition, bioenergy, and industrial purposes.
Myc controls multiple cellular functions, including cell proliferation, growth, differentiation and death, both directly and indirectly, through its modulation of downstream transcriptional programs.
In the last few years, significant advances have been made in understanding how a yeast cell responds to the stress of producing a recombinant protein, and how this information can be used to engineer improved host strains.
Salmonella: Methods and Protocols presents detailed methods on a variety of aspects of Salmonella research, focusing on those which provide landmarks for future discovery.
Comparative Genomics, Volume 2, provides a collection of robust protocols for molecular biologists beginning to use comparative genomic analysis tools in a variety of areas.
Over the past two decades, expressed sequence tags (ESTs - single pass reads from randomly selected cDNAs), have proven to be a remarkably cost-effective route for the purposes of gene discovery.
In this volume of Methods in Molecular Biology(TM), expert investigators offer comprehensive, complementary, and cutting-edge technologies for studies of gene regulation.
Comparative Genomics, Volume 1, provides a collection of robust protocols for molecular biologists beginning to use comparative genomic analysis tools in a variety of areas.
In Polyadenylation: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field detail many of the protocols which are now commonly used to study polyadenylation.
Providing a guide to classical experimental approaches to decipher splicing mechanisms and experimental strategies that rely on novel multi-disciplinary approaches, Spliceosomal Pre-mRNA Splicing: Methods and Protocols describes the theory of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in seven introductory chapters and then introduces protocols and their theoretical background relevant for a variety of experimental research.
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.
The HLA molecules are important regulators of the immune response through mediating antigen presentation and interaction between key immune mediating cells.
