The current demand for the development of techniques for controlled genetic manipulations is driven by the anatomical and physiological complexity of the brain and by the need for experimental models that can address this complexity through selective manipulation of defined components of the system: specific neuronal populations or selected synapses.
Recent work has revealed that stabilizing G-quadruplexes in telomeric DNA inhibits telomerase activity, providing impetus for the development of G-quartet-interacting drugs, while G-quartet-containing oligonucleotides have been recognized as a potent class of aptamers effective against STAT3 and other transcription factors implicated in oncogenesis, proving these guanine-quartets to be a vital and rich area for future study.
Recent advances in genetics over the last quarter of a century, especially in molecular techniques, have dramatically reduced the cost of determining genetic markers and hence opened up a field of research that is increasingly helping to detect, prevent and/or cure many diseases that afflict humans.
Following the completion of the mouse and human genome sequences, a major challengeisthefunctionalcharacterizationofeverymammaliangeneandthedeciph- ing of their molecular interaction network.
In miRNomics: MicroRNA Biology and Computational Analysis, expert researchers in the field present an overview of the current state of the art and aim to put the respective areas of research into a larger perspective.
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.
Classical methods for microbial strain engineering, used to improve the production of bioproducts, have serious drawbacks and have been found to be unsuitable for complex strain development applications.
Recent advances in organic chemistry, fluorescent microscopy, and materials science have created an entirely new range of techniques and probes for imaging DNA damage in molecular and cellular biology.
As functional genomics has become one of the major focuses in molecular biology, the need for more sophisticated tools to assist in the identification of the functionality of undefined genes and the correlation of DNA variants with a particular phenotype has increased greatly.
The recent expansion in diversity of RNA and DNA editing types has stimulated the development of many unique genetic, molecular, biochemical, and computational approaches to biological issues.
In Therapeutic Applications of Ribozymes and Riboswitches: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field provide a complete overview of protocols used in the development of RNA molecule as drugs and drug target.
Genomic imprinting, the process by which the non-equivalence of the paternal and maternal genomes is established, has been fascinating us for over three decades and has provided many emerging scientists with the chance to hit their stride in a frontier posing many unexpected questions and even more surprising answers.
Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE): Digital Gene Expression Profiling facilitates the introduction of SAGE into the laboratory, and provides a framework for interpreting and comparing data derived from SAGE experiments.
In recent years, single nucleotide polymorphisms have received increased and special attention in a rapidly developing field of personalized medicine and drug treatment.
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.
Arthritis Research: Methods and Protocols is a compendium of data pertinent to the methods and protocols that have contributed to recent advances in molecular medicine in general, but to the molecular basis of rheumatic disease in particular.
In the early years of microarray technology, efforts were directed mainly at profiling expressed genes, while recently the microarray platform has been adapted into diverse applications directed toward the investigation of the physical genome.
A DNA barcode in its simplest definition is one or more short gene sequences taken from a standardized portion of the genome that is used to identify species through reference to DNA sequence libraries or databases.
Known for flexibility and robustness, PCR techniques continue to improve through numerous developments, including the identification of thermostable DNA polymerases which exhibit a range of properties to suit given applications.
Forensic DNA profiling procedures are mainly based on high resolution and high throughput capillary electrophoresis separation and detection systems of PCR amplicons obtained from DNA genomic markers with different inheritance patterns.
Current knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate DNA repair has grown significantly over the past years with technology advances such as RNA interference, advanced proteomics and microscopy as well as high throughput screens.
In Functional Analysis of DNA and Chromatin, expert researchers in the field provide an overview of standard and more recent methods for the functional analysis of the genetic material.
Once a tedious, highly skilled operation, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has become a routine and invaluable technique used in most laboratories.
Despite the many milestones in cystic fibrosis (CF) research, progress towards curing the disease has been slow, and it is increasingly difficult to grasp and use the already wide and still growing range of diverse methods currently employed to study CF so as to understand it in its multidisciplinary nature.
Microchip-Based Assay Systems explores recent progress in the microelectronics arena, the resultant miniaturization of component device features to nanometer size particles, and the ensuing growth in the development and use of microchip-based techniques in leading laboratories around the world.
Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) belongs to that special category of well-established molecular biology techniques that, since their inception a few decades ago, have succeeded in keeping a prominent position within the constantly expanding list of laboratory pro- dures for biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.
We are entering a particularly fruitful period in evolutionary genetics, as rapid technological progress transforms the investigation of genetic variation within and between species.
With the detailed genomic information that is now becoming available, we have a plethora of data that allows researchers to address questions in a variety of areas.
Metagenomics has proven to be a powerful tool for exploring the ecology, metabolic profiling, and comparison of complex microbial communities as well as its important applications in the mining of metagenomes for genes encoding novel biocatalysts and drug molecules for bioindustries.
Chemogenomics aims toward the systematic identification of small molecules that interact with the products of the genome and modulate their biological function.
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.
Due to their novel concepts and extraordinary high-throughput sequencing capacity, the "e;next generation sequencing"e; methods allow scientists to grasp system-wide landscapes of the complex molecular events taking place in various biological systems, including microorganisms and microbial communities.
