This volume explores recent techniques for the computational inference of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). The chapters in this book cover topics such as methods to infer GRNs from time-varying data; the extraction of causal information from biological data; GRN inference from multiple heterogeneous data sets; non-parametric and hybrid statistical methods; the joint inference of differential networks; and mechanistic models of gene regulation dynamics. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, descriptions of recently developed methods for GRN inference, applications of these methods on real and/ or simulated biological data, and step-by-step tutorials on the usage of associated software tools. Cutting-edge and thorough, Gene Regulatory Networks: Methods and Protocols is an essential tool for evaluating the current research needed to further address the common challenges faced by specialists in this field.

This book addresses various aspects of the current castor bean research, including genetics, biotechnology, comparative genomics, and more specific topics such as oil metabolism and the ricin toxin. It also presents the whole genome sequencing of the castor bean and its impact on the mining of gene families and future plant breeding. Castor bean (Ricinus communis), an oilseed plant, belongs to the Euphorbiaceae (spurge) family. It is a tropical and subtropical crop valued for the high quality and uniform nature of its oil, which is mostly composed of the uncommon fatty acid ricinoleate. Castor bean oil has important industrial applications for the production of lubricants, cosmetics, medicines, and specialty chemicals, and castor bean has also been proposed as a biodiesel crop that does not pose concerns regarding the "food versus fuel" debate. However, it accumulates the type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein ricin in its seeds, and health concerns posed by ricin's high toxicity have prevented broader cultivation. Recently, there has been renewed interest in castor bean due to potential biosecurity issues.

Engineering of Biomaterials for Drug Delivery Systems: Beyond Polyethylene Glycol examines the combined issues of PEGylation and viable biomaterials as alternatives. With a strong focus on polymeric biomaterials, the book first reviews the major issues associated with PEGylation and its use in vivo. Chapters then focus on alternative polymer systems for drug delivery systems. Finally, nanoparticles and future perspectives are examined. This book is a valuable resource for scientists and researchers in biomaterials, pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology, and all those who wish to broaden their knowledge in this field.

This book reviews the latest biotechnological advances with pluripotent stem cells, exploring their application in tissue engineering and medicinal chemistry. Chapters from expert contributors cover topics such as the production of transgene-free induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), expansion, controlled differentiation and programming of pluripotent stem cells, and their genetic instability. Particular attention is given to the application of the pluripotent stem cells for vascularision of engineered tissue and for drug screening. This book will appeal to researchers working in regenerative medicine and drug discovery, and to bioengineers and professionals interested in stem cell research.

The book covers the fundamentals of the field of biocatalysis that are not treated in such detail (or even not at all) in existing biocatalysis books or biochemistry textbooks. It of course does not substitute existing biochemistry textbooks but will serve a suitable supplement as it discusses biochemical fundamentals in connection with the respective topics. With focus on the interdisciplinary nature of biocatalysis, the book contains many aspects of fundamental organic chemistry and some of inorganic chemistry as well, which should make it interesting not only for biochemistry but also for chemistry students. An important theme being emphasized in the book is that applied biocatalysis is one of the main prerequisites for a sustainable development. The topics covered ranges from basic enzyme chemistry (biosynthesis, structure, properties, interaction forces, kinetics) to a detailed description of catalytic mechanisms. It covers the fundamentals of the different enzyme classes together with their applications in native and in immobilized state or in the form of whole cells in aqueous as well as non-conventional media. Topics such as catalytic antibodies, nucleic acid catalysts, non-ribosomal peptide synthesis, evolutionary methods, and the design of cells are also included.

Synthetic Biology - A Primer gives a broad overview of the emerging field of synthetic biology and the foundational concepts on which it is built. It will be of interest to final year undergraduates, postgraduates and established researchers who are interested in learning about this exciting new field. The book introduces readers to fundamental concepts in molecular biology and engineering and then explores the two major themes for synthetic biology, namely 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' engineering approaches. 'Top-down' engineering utilises a conceptual framework of engineering and systematic design to build new biological systems by integrating robustly characterised biological parts into an existing system through the use of extensive mathematical modelling. The 'bottom-up' approach involves the design and building of synthetic protocells using basic chemical and biochemical building blocks from scratch. Exemplars of cutting-edge applications designed using synthetic biology principles are presented, including the production of novel biofuels from renewable feedstocks, microbial synthesis of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, and the design and implementation of biosensors to detect infections and environmental waste. The book also uses the Internationally Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition to illustrate the power of synthetic biology as an innovative research and training science. Finally, the primer includes a chapter on the ethical, legal and societal issues surrounding synthetic biology, illustrating the integration of social sciences in synthetic biology research.

Genetic Engineering of Horticultural Crops provides key insights into commercialized crops, their improved productivity, disease and pest resistance, and enhanced nutritional or medicinal benefits. It includes insights into key technologies, such as marker traits identification and genetic traits transfer for increased productivity, examining the latest transgenic advances in a variety of crops and providing foundational information that can be applied to new areas of study. As modern biotechnology has helped to increase crop productivity by introducing novel gene(s) with high quality disease resistance and increased drought tolerance, this is an ideal resource for researchers and industry professionals.

Membrane processes today play a signifi cant role in the replacement therapy for acute and chronic organ failure diseases. Current extracorporeal blood purifi cation and oxygenation devices employ membranes acting as selective barriers for the removal of endogeneous and exogeneous toxins and for gas exchange, respectively. Additionally, membrane technology offers new interesting opportunities for the design of bioartificial livers, pancreas, kidneys, lungs etc. This book reviews the latest developments in membrane systems for bioartificial organs and regenerative medicine, investigates how membrane technology can improve the quality and efficiency of biomedical devices, and highlights the design procedures for membrane materials covering the preparation, characterization, and sterilization steps as well as transport phenomena. The different strategies pursued for the development of membrane bioartifi cial organs, including crucial issues related to blood/cell-membrane interactions are described with the aim of opening new and exciting frontiers in the coming decades. The book is a valuable tool for tissue engineers, clinicians, biomaterials scientists, membranologists as well as biologists and biotechnologists. It is also a source of reference for students, academic and industrial researchers in the topic of biotechnology, biomedical engineering, materials science and medicine.

Although super-critial fluid (SCF) technology is now widely used in extraction and purification processes (in the petrochemical, food and pharmaceuticals industries), this book is the first to address the new application of cleaning. The objective is to provide a roadmap for readers who want to know whether SCF technology can meet their own processing and cleaning needs. It is particularly helpful to those striving to balance the requirements for a clean product and a clean environment. The interdisciplinary subject matter will appeal to scientists and engineers in all specialties ranging from materials and polymer sciences to chemistry and physics. It is also useful to those developing new processes for other applications, and references given at the end of each chapter provide links to the wider body of SCF literature.

The book is organized with topics progressing from the fundamental nature of the supercritical state, through process conditions and materials interactions, to economic considerations. Practical examples are included to show how the technology has been successfully applied. The first four chapters consider principles governing SCF processing, detailing issues such as solubility, design for cleanability, and the dynamics of particle removal. The next three chapters discuss surfactants and micro-emulsions, SCF interaction with polymers, and the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) as a cleaning solvent. The closing chapters focus on more practical considerations such as scale-up, equipment costs, and financial analysis.

Many contributors to this book belong to the "Joint Association for the Advancement of SCF Technology" (JAAST). A primary motivation for theformation of JAAST was the growing worldwide need to replace ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) and smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in manufacturing processes. Although aqueous cleaning has been adopted successfully for many applications, water is not a panacea and SCF technology has emerged as a leading alternative.

This manual is designed as an intensive introduction to the various tools of molecular biology. It introduces all the basic methods of molecular biology including cloning, PCR, Southern (DNA) blotting, Northern (RNA) blotting, Western blotting, DNA sequencing, oligo-directed mutagenesis, and protein expression.
Key Features
* Provides well-tested experimental protocols for each technique
* Lists the reagents and preparation of each experiment separately
* Contains a complete schedule of experiments and the preparation required
* Includes study questions at the end of each chapter

Agriculture faces many challenges to fulfil the growing demand for sustainable food production and ensure high-quality nutrition for a rapidly growing population. To guarantee adequate food production, it is necessary to increase the yield per area of arable land. A method for achieving this goal has been the application of growth regulators to modulate plant growth. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are substances in specific formulations which, when applied to plants or seeds, have the capacity to promote, inhibit, or modify physiological traits, development and/or stress responses. They maintain proper balance between source and sink for enhancing crop yield. PGRs are used to maximize productivity and quality, improve consistency in production, and overcome genetic and abiotic limitations to plant productivity. Suitable PGRs include hormones such as cytokinins and auxins, and hormone-like compounds such as mepiquat chloride and paclobutrazol. The use of PGRs in mainstream agriculture has steadily increased within the last 20 years as their benefits have become better understood by growers. Unfortunately, the growth of the PGR market may be constrained by a lack of innovation at a time when an increase in demand for new products will require steady innovation and discovery of novel, cost-competitive, specific, and effective PGRs. A plant bio-stimulant is any substance or microorganism applied to plants with the aim to enhance nutrition efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance and/or crop quality traits, regardless of its nutrients content. Apart from traditional PGRs, which are mostly plant hormones, there are a number of substances/molecules such as nitric oxide, methyl jasmonate, brassinosteroids, seaweed extracts, strigolactones, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria etc. which act as PGRs. These novel PGRs or bio-stimulants have been reported to play important roles in stress responses and adaptation. They can protect plants against various stresses, including water deficit, chilling and high temperatures, salinity and flooding. This book includes chapters ranging from sensing and signalling in plants to translational research. In addition, the cross-talk operative in plants in response to varied signals of biotic and abiotic nature is also presented. Ultimately the objective of this book is to present the current scenario and the future plan of action for the management of stresses through traditional as well as novel PGRs. We believe that this book will initiate and introduce readers to state-of-the-art developments and trends in this field of study.

Cryopreservation has proven to be an important tool for the storage and conservation of plant genetic resources. This book is a unique resource for plant scientists, providing more than 100 ready-to-use cryopreservation protocols for plant types from algae and bryophytes to a range of flowering plants. It includes techniques for diverse plant parts such as dormant buds, pollen, and apical meristems and for cell types such as suspension and callus cultures.

This thesis builds on recent innovations in multi-phase emulsion droplet design to demonstrate that emulsion morphologies enable a useful variety of dynamic optical phenomena. Despite the highly dynamic nature of fluid morphologies and their utility for stimuli-responsive, dynamic optical materials and devices, fluid matter is underrepresented in optical technology. Using bi-phase emulsion droplets as refractive micro-optical components, this thesis realizes micro-scale fluid compound lenses with optical properties that vary in response to changes in chemical concentrations, structured illumination, and thermal gradients. Theoretical considerations of emulsions as optical components are used to explain a previously unrecognized total internal reflection-enabled light interference phenomenon in emulsion droplets that results in rich structural coloration. While this work is focused on the fundamental optics of emulsion droplets, it also facilitates the use of light-emitting emulsion morphologies as chemo-optical transducers for early-stage food-borne pathogen detection. This thesis beautifully demonstrates the virtue of fundamental interdisciplinary exploration of unconventional material systems at the interface of optics, chemistry, and materials science, and the benefits arising from translation of the acquired knowledge into specific application scenarios.

White biotechnology, or industrial biotechnology as it is also known, refers to the use of living cells and/or their enzymes to create industrial products that are more easily degradable, require less energy, create less waste during production and sometimes perform better than products created using traditional chemical processes. Over the last decade considerable progress has been made in white biotechnology research, and further major scientific and technological breakthroughs are expected in the future. Fungi are ubiquitous in nature and have been sorted out from different habitats, including extreme environments (high temperature, low temperature, salinity and pH), and may be associated with plants (epiphytic, endophytic and rhizospheric). The fungal strains are beneficial as well as harmful for human beings. The beneficial fungal strains may play important roles in the agricultural, industrial, and medical sectors. The fungal strains and their products (enzymes, bioactive compounds, and secondary metabolites) are very useful for industry (e.g., the discovery of penicillin from Penicillium chrysogenum). This discovery was a milestone in the development of white biotechnology as the industrial production of penicillin and antibiotics using fungi moved industrial biotechnology into the modern era, transforming it into a global industrial technology. Since then, white biotechnology has steadily developed and now plays a key role in several industrial sectors, providing both high value nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products. The fungal strains and bioactive compounds also play an important role in environmental cleaning. This volume covers the latest developments and research in white biotechnology with a focus on diversity and enzymes.

Omics Technologies and Bio-Engineering: Towards Improving Quality of Life, Volume 1 is a unique reference that brings together multiple perspectives on omics research, providing in-depth analysis and insights from an international team of authors. The book delivers pivotal information that will inform and improve medical and biological research by helping readers gain more direct access to analytic data, an increased understanding on data evaluation, and a comprehensive picture on how to use omics data in molecular biology, biotechnology and human health care.

This book reviews the development, characterization and applications of aptamers in different areas of biotechnology ranging from therapeutics to diagnostics and protein purification. Hailed as chemical antibodies, these single-stranded nucleic acid receptors were predicted to supersede antibodies in traditional assays, such as ELISA, within a short time. While this has yet to happen, readers will find in this book a deep insight into the progress of aptamer technology and a critical discussion about the limitations that need to be overcome in order to find wider acceptance and use outside of the still relatively small aptamer-community. This book covers all aspects of aptamer generation and application for the aptamer-experienced reader and curious novice alike, with the addition of an industry perspective on the future of aptamer-use in biotechnology.

Biomass for Renewable Energy, Fuels, and Chemicals serves as a comprehensive introduction to the subject for the student and educator, and is useful for researchers who are interested in the technical details of biomass energy production. The coverage and discussion are multidisciplinary, reflecting the many scientific and engineering disciplines involved. The book will appeal to a broad range of energy professionals and specialists, farmers and foresters who are searching for methods of selecting, growing, and converting energy crops, entrepreneurs who are commercializing biomass energy projects, and those involved in designing solid and liquid waste disposal-energy recovery systems.
Key Features
* Presents a graduated treatment from basic principles to the details of specific technologies
* Includes a critical analysis of many biomass energy research and commercialization activities
* Proposes several new technical approaches to improve efficiencies, net energy production, and economics
* Reviews failed projects, as well as successes, and methods for overcoming barriers to commercialization
* Written by a leader in the field with 40 years of educational, research, and commercialization experience

Peptide Applications in Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Bioengineering summarizes the current knowledge on peptide applications in biomedicine, biotechnology and bioengineering. After a general introduction to peptides, the book addresses the many applications of peptides in biomedicine and medical technology. Next, the text focuses on peptide applications in biotechnology and bioengineering and reviews of peptide applications in nanotechnology. This book is a valuable resource for biomaterial scientists, polymer scientists, bioengineers, mechanical engineers, synthetic chemists, medical doctors and biologists.

The abiotic stresses like drought, temperature, cold, salinity, heavy metals etc. affect a great deal on the yield performance of the agricultural crops. To cope up with these challenges, plant breeding programs world-wide are focussing on the development of stress tolerant varieties in all crop species. Significant genomic advances have been made for abiotic stress tolerance in various crop species in terms of availability of molecular markers, QTL mapping, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genomic selection (GS) strategies, and transcriptome profiling. The broad-range of articles involving genomics and breeding approaches deepens our existing knowledge about complex traits. The chapters are written by authorities in their respective fields. This book provides comprehensive and consolidated account on the applications of the most recent findings and the progress made in genomics assisted breeding for tolerance to abiotic stresses in many important major crop species with a focus on applications of modern strategies for sustainable agriculture. The book is especially intended for students, molecular breeders and scientists working on the genomics-assisted genetic improvement of crop species for abiotic stress tolerance.

This well-established textbook on biocatalysis provides a basis for undergraduate and graduate courses in modern organic chemistry, as well as a condensed introduction into this field. After a basic introduction into the use of biocatalysts-principles of stereoselective transformations, enzyme properties and kinetics-the different types of reactions are explained according to the 'reaction principle', such as hydrolysis, reduction, oxidation, C-C bond formation, etc. Special techniques, such as the use of enzymes in organic solvents, immobilization techniques, artificial enzymes and the design of cascade-reactions are treated in a separate section. A final chapter deals with the basic rules for the safe and practical handling of biocatalysts. The use of biocatalysts, employed either as isolated enzymes or whole microbial cells, offers a remarkable arsenal of highly selective transformations for state-of-the-art synthetic organic chemistry. Over the last two decades, this methodology has become an indispensable tool for asymmetric synthesis, not only at the academic level, but also on an industrial scale. In this 7th edition new topics have been introduced which include alcohol and amine oxidases, amine dehydrogenases, imine reductases, haloalkane dehalogenases, ATP-independent phosphorylation, Michael-additions and cascade reactions. This new edition also emphasizes the use of enzymes in industrial biotransformations with practical examples.

The significant media coverage recently given to issues such as the international impacts of biofuel production policies, advances in synthetic biology, and the ethical implications of research involving embryonic stem cells, is indicative of the high-level of interest - among policy-makers, academics and the public - in the biotechnology revolution, its applications, impacts and control. There is also significant interest in international regulatory processes as a form of governance, and international regulation is a vital part of efforts to manage the impacts of the biotechnology revolution, since many of these are global in their nature. The book establishes the need for international regulation of biotechnology, identifying the roles it needs to play, and the issues it needs to cover. Having outlined the importance of coherence to the effective functioning of international regulatory sets, a model of coherent international regulation is established, against which the biotechnology regulations can be assessed. This book approaches the subject from an international relations perspective but also draws from, and will contribute to, literature in the fields of international law, global governance, technological governance, and science-society relations.

In order to grow replacement tissues, 3D scaffolds are widely used as a template for tissue engineering and regeneration. These scaffolds, which are typically 'seeded' with cells, support the growth of new tissues. However, in order to achieve successful tissue growth, the scaffold must meet specific requirements and are often 'functionalized' to accentuate particular properties. Functional 3D tissue engineering scaffolds: materials, technologies, and applications, is a comprehensive review of functional 3D scaffolds, providing information on the fundamentals, technologies, and applications. Part 1 focuses on the fundamentals of 3D tissue scaffolds, examining information on materials, properties, and trends. Part 2 discusses a wide range of conventional technologies for engineering functional 3D scaffolds, leading the way to a discussion on CAD and advanced technologies for functional 3D scaffold engineering. Chapters in part 3 study methods for functionalizing scaffolds to support a variety of in vivo functions whilst the final set of chapters provides an important review of the most significant applications of functional 3D scaffolds within tissue engineering. This book is a valuable resource for biomaterial scientists and biomedical engineers in academia and industry, with interests in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.