Privacy is a fundamental concern of all individuals in the modern information-driven society, but information security goes beyond digital and data-oriented approaches to include the basic components of what makes us human. Protecting the Genetic Self from Biometric Threats: Autonomy, Identity, and Genetic Privacy considers all aspects of privacy and security relating to an individual's DNA. With a concentration on fundamental human rights as well as specific cases and examples, this essential reference brings pertinent, real-world information to researchers, scientists, and advocates for greater security and privacy in the modern world.

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.

This is the first detailed assessment of the development and implementation of social policy to deal with the problem of the `mentally deficient' in Britain between 1870 and 1959. Mathew Thomson analyses all the factors involved in the policy-making process, beginning with the politics of the legislature and showing how the demands of central government were interpreted by local authorities, resulting in a wide and varied distribution of medical, institutional, and community care in different parts of the country. The efforts of health professionals, voluntary organizations and the families themselves are considered, alongside questions about the influence of changing concepts of class, gender, and citizenship. The author queries the belief that the policy of segregation was largely unsuccessful, and reveals a hitherto unrecognized system of care in the community. He reframes our understanding of the campaign for sterilization and examines why British policy-makers avoided extremist measures such as the compulsory sterilization introduced in Germany and parts of the US during this period. Thomson shows that the problem of mental deficiency cannot be understood simply in terms of eugenics but must also be considered as part of the process of adjusting to democracy in the twentieth century.

Advances in Agronomy, Volume 144, the newest release in a serial that continues to be recognized as a leading reference and first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy presents new information on the following topics: An Important Tool with No Instruction Manual: A Review of Gypsum Use in Agriculture, Preventive Weed Management in Direct-Seeded Rice: Targeting the Weed Seedbank, Current Approaches and Future Trends in Compost Quality Criteria for Agronomic, Environmental and Human Health Benefits, and Grain Legume Production and Use in European Agricultural Systems. This highly regarded series contains an eclectic group of reviews by leading scientists throughout the world. As always, the subjects covered are rich, varied and comprehensively covered.

This volume focuses on the latest methods used to sequence, assemble, and analyze insect genomes. The collection of protocols in this book provides an introduction to the workflows and bioinformatics tools available for researchers. The chapters cover a range of useful topics such as determining genome size by flow cytometry; High Molecular Weight DNA extraction; improvements to a genome assembly provided by long-range sequencing approaches; assessments of orthology and single-copy genes at different phylogenetic levels; detecting regulatory regions with FAIRE, RAMPAGE, and computational analysis of cis-regulatory modules in insects; bioinformatics analysis of epigenetic modifications, high-throughput scanning of insect genomes (TEEseq) for the presence of endosymbionts, and leveraging genome sequence information to design RNAi strategies. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and thorough, Insect Genomics: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for graduate students, postdocs, and novice research scientists who are interested in learning more about this developing field.

This fully updated second edition explores protocols that address the most challenging aspects of experimental work in ancient DNA, such as preparing ancient samples for DNA extraction, the DNA extraction itself, and transforming extracted ancient DNA molecules for sequencing library preparation. The volume also examines the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data recovered from ancient specimens, which, because of the degraded nature of ancient DNA and common co-extraction of contaminant DNA, has challenges that are unique compared to data recovered from modern specimens.Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Ancient DNA: Methods and Protocols, Second Edition aims to serve both experts and beginners by presenting protocols in a manner that makes them easily accessible for everyday use in the lab.

Before Mendel, who came closest to the truth about heredity? This book examines the activities of sheep breeders able to transform the appearance and qualities of their stock by combining different traits of body or wool into new patterns. Exploiting what were then untried procedures - individual trait selection, very close inbreeding and progeny testing - they demonstrated inheritance from both sexes and showed how it could be stabilised. Major advances in breeding are associated with the English farmer Robert Bakewell (1725-1795). By the following century, when the same procedures had been established at breeding centres in central Europe, theory as well as practice became the subject of wider attention. In the Brno Sheep Breeders' Society, discussions of patterns of heredity finally gave way to the physiological question, 'What is inherited and how?' The question was posed by Cyrill Napp, abbot of the monastery to which Mendel was admitted six years later.

This book marries stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and regenerative biology into a single, interdisciplinary volume. The chapters also explore embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, cardiovascular regeneration, skeletal development, inflammation, polymeric biomaterials, neural injury, cartilage regeneration, regeneration in ambystoma, models for regeneration using salamander and zebrafish, and more. The volume also discusses recent advances and their potential in developing future therapies. Innovations in Molecular Mechanisms and Tissue Engineering combines perspectives from the biomedical, bioengineering, and medical fields to present a cutting-edge, multifaceted picture of the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine fields. This installment of Springer's Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine series is ideal for scientists, clinicians, and researchers in the fields of stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, biomedical engineering, and tissue engineering.

This astute volume brings together the latest expert research on adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas (ACPs). ACPs are histologically benign but clinically aggressive tumors exhibiting a high propensity for local invasion into the hypothalamus, optic and vascular structures. These tumors, as well as the current treatments, may result in pan-hypopituitarism, diabetes insipidus, morbid obesity followed by type II diabetes mellitus, blindness, as well as serious behavioral and psychosocial impairments. Exploring in detail advances in both the understanding of tumor biology as well as clinical advances in patient management are explored in detail, this book will also look towards potential new treatment approaches. Basic Research and Clinical Aspects of Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngioma is the first book compiling all current research on ACPs. Mouse and human studies have unequivocally demonstrated that mutations in CTNNB1 encoding -catenin underlie the etiology of the majority, if not all ACP tumors. Genetic studies in mice have shown that ACPs are tumors of the pituitary gland and not of the hypothalamus as previously thought, and are derived from Rathke's pouch precursors. In addition, a role for tissue-specific adult pituitary stem cells has been revealed as causative of ACP. Together, these studies have provided novel insights into the molecular and cellular etiology as well as the pathogenesis of human ACP. Finally, this volume covers new treatment approaches that have been shown to be effective both in reducing ACP burden as well as reducing the morbidity associated with therapy.

This volume brings together a set of reviews that provide a summary of our current knowledge of the proteolytic machinery and of the pathways of protein breakdown of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Intracellular protein degradation is much more than just a mechanism for the removal of incorrectly folded or damaged proteins. Since many short-lived proteins have important regulatory functions, proteolysis makes a significant contribution to many cellular processes including cell cycle regulation and transciptional control. In addition, limited proteolytic cleavage can provide a rapid and efficient mechanism of enzyme activation or inactivation in eukaryotic cells.
In the first chapter, Maurizi provides an introduction to intracellular protein degradation, describes the structure and functions of bacterial ATP-dependent proteases, and explores the relationship between chaperone functions and protein degradation. Many of the principles also apply to eukaryotic cells, although the proteases involved are often not the same. Interestingly, homologues of one of the bacterial proteases, Ion protease, have been found in mitochondria in yeast and mammals, and homologues of proteasomes, which are found in all eukaryotic cells (see below), have been discovered in some eubacteria.
Studies of proteolysis in yeast have contributed greatly to the elucidation of both lysosomal (vacuolar) and nonlysosomal proteolytic pathways in eukaryotic cells. Thumm and Wolf (chapter 2) describe studies that have elucidated the functions of proteasomes in nonlysosomal proteolysis and the contributions of lysosomal proteases to intracellular protein breakdown. Proteins can be selected for degradation by a variety of differen mechanisms. The ubiquitin system is one complex and highly regulated mechanism by which eukaryotic proteins are targetted for degradation by proteosomes. In chapter 3, Wilkinson reviews the components and functions of the ubiquitin system and considers some of the known substrates for this pathway which include cell cycle and transcriptional regulators.
The structure and functions of proteosomes and their regulatory components are described in the two subsequent chapters by Tanaka and Tanahashi and by Dubiel and Rechsteiner. Proteasomes were the first known example of threonine proteases. They are multisubunit complexes that, in addition to being responsible for the turnover of most short-lived nuclear and cytoplasmic protein, are also involved in antigen processing for presentation by the MHC class I pathway. Recent studies reviewed by McCracken and colleagues (chapter 6) lead to the exciting conclusion that some ER-associated proteins are degraded by cytosolic proteasomes.
Lysosomes are responsible for the degradation of long-lived proteins and for the enhanced protein degradation observed under starvation conditions. In chapter 7 Knecht and colleagues review the lysosomal proteases and describe studies of the roles of lysosomes and the mechanisms for protein uptake into lysosomes. Methods of measuring the relative contribution of different proteolytic systems (e.g., ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, calcium-dependent proteases, lysosomes) to muscle protein degradation, and the conclusions from such studies, are reviewed by Attai and Taillinder in the following chapter.
Finally, proteases play an important role in signaling apoptosis by catalyzing the limited cleavage of enzymes. Mason and Beyette review the role of the major players, caspases, which are both activated by and catalyze limite proteolysis, and also consider the involvement of other protoelytic enzymes in this pathway leading cell death.

What will our lives be like fifty years from now? What will we know about ourselves as humans, and how will that affect our lives? It's impossible to know the future for certain, but one thing we do know--perhaps nothing will alter our future more than the Genetics Revolution of the past thirty-five years. This book clarifies the history and examines the possible impact of five major areas of genetic research:

• The Human Genome Project and genetic engineering
• In vitro fertilization (IVF) and the technology of reproduction
• The Human Genome Diversity Project, which is studying the variation of the human genome
• Embryonic stem-cell research
• Cloning

This invaluable resource discusses clinical applications with effects and side-effects of applications of stem cells in liver, lung and heart regeneration. All chapters are contributed by pre-eminent scientists in the field and covers such topics as cell therapy in the treatment of cirrhosis and other liver, heart and lung diseases, characteristics of hepatic progenitor cells, future directions of the discussed therapies and much more. Liver, Lung and Heart Regeneration and the other books in the Stem Cells in Clinical Applications series will be invaluable to scientists, researchers, advanced students and clinicians working in stem cells, regenerative medicine or tissue engineering.