The public image of genetics research has undergone a remarkable transformation since the 1950s, from a suspect brand of research tainted by eugenics to a thriving, well-funded, and "popular" field of biomedicine. Still, despite enormous scientific advances in DNA technology and its ability to sustain large areas of the science industry, social, legal, and popular opinion about genetics remains highly ambivalent.

In Imagenation, historian of science Jose Van Dijck examines the role of images and imagination in popular representations fo the new genetics since the late 1950s. Taking us through a vast range of media--from general interest magazines to science fiction to public relations materials--he demonstrates how popular representations of genetics do not simply reflect the advancement of genetic technology. Instead, cultural accounts of genetics are taking on an important role in the very structure of scientific thinking, with many groups--environmentalists, feminists, entrepreneurs--influencing this process.

From news stories of DNA strings escaping from our laboratories to the ongoing debates over bioethics, from James Watson and "The Double Helix" to the Human Genome Project, Van Dijck Portrays the "imaginary" tools of genetics as players in a theater of representation--a multilayered contest in which special interest groups and professional organizations mobilize images in a heated debate over the meaning of genetics. Compelling and insightful, Imagenation unravels this phenomenon, revealing how ideology shapes the cultural forms through which we make sense of scientific progress.

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

Biology is often viewed today as a bipartisan field, with molecular level genetics guiding us into the future and natural history (including ecology, evolution, and conservation biology, ) chaining us to a descriptive scientific past. In Darwinian Detectives, Norman Johnson bridges this divide, revealing how the tried and true tools of natural history make sense of the newest genomic discoveries. Molecular scientists exploring newly sequenced genomes have stumbled upon quite a few surprises, including that only one to ten percent of the genetic material of animals actually codes for genes. What does the remaining 90-99% of the genome do? Why do some organisms have a much lower genome size than their close relatives? What were the genetic changes that were associated with us becoming human? As molecular biologists uncover these and other new mysteries, evolutionary geneticists are searching for answers to such questions. Norman Johnson captures the excitement of the hunt for our own genetic history. Through lively anecdotes, he explores how researchers detect natural selection acting on genes and what this genetic information tells us about human origins.

This book relates how, between 1954 and 1961, the biologist Seymour Benzer mapped the fine structure of the rII region of the genome of the bacterial virus known as phage T4. Benzer's accomplishments are widely recognized as a tipping point in mid-twentieth-century molecular biology when the nature of the gene was recast in molecular terms. More often than any other individual, he is considered to have led geneticists from the classical gene into the molecular age.
Drawing on Benzer's remarkably complete record of his experiments, his correspondence, and published sources, this book reconstructs how the former physicist initiated his work in phage biology and achieved his landmark investigation. The account of Benzer's creativity as a researcher is a fascinating story that also reveals intriguing aspects common to the scientific enterprise.

This book highlights the role of the Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein (TCTP) in cell signaling, cell fate and the resulting connection to disease development. It begins by discussing the structure/function of TCTP, before exploring its role in different species ranging from plants to Drosophila and covering fields such as development, the cytoskeleton, cell division, DNA fragility and apoptosis. In turn, the book's final section is devoted to the role of TCTP in disease, namely asthma and diverse cancers, and ultimately as a target for the treatment of malignancies. What is the common denominator between all these processes and why is TCTP necessary in order for them to occur, even in the worst case such as cancer? The book seeks to provide meaningful answers to this and other key questions. Presenting a broad and revealing view on the topic, it offers an informative guide for scientists and students alike.

Coumarins are a group of compounds that have important roles as food constituents; as anti-oxidants, stabilisers, and immunomodulatory substances; as fluorescent markers for use in analysis, in lasers and in clinical use. Coumarins: Biology, Applications and Mode of Action predominantly focuses on the parent compound, coumarin, and its main metabolite in humans, 7-hydroxycoumarin. It describes in detail every facet of these compounds including history, toxicology, chemistry, metabolism, analysis, clinical, veterinary and other applications, their roles as immunomodulatory agents and speculates on their mode of action. Features include:
* New insights into mode of action of coumarins
* Comprehensive summary of new coumarin compounds
* Detailed accounts of methods used for analysis
* Applications of coumarins for diverse methods of analysis
This volume will be of interest to those working in biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacology, clinical sciences and toxicology.

This book discusses the main stem cell niches under distinct pathophysiological conditions. The role of tissue microenvironments in stem cell regulation, as well as modern methodologies and new techniques for the identification and characterization of stem cell niches, are discussed by leading experts in the field. Chapters describe the major components of various stem cell microenvironments, such as cellular components, soluble factors, cell-cell interactions, extra-cellular matrix proteins, and physical forces. Stem Cell Microenvironments and Beyond is part of the highly successful Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology series. It is essential reading for graduate students and researchers in the field of stem cells or cell biology as well as clinicians.

Mechanisms of DNA Recombination and Genome Rearrangements: Methods to Study Homologous Recombination, Volume 600, the latest release in the Methods in Enzymology series, continues the legacy of this premier serial with quality chapters authored by leaders in the field. Homologous genetic recombination remains the most enigmatic process in DNA metabolism. The molecular machines of recombination preserve the integrity of the genetic material in all organisms and generate genetic diversity in evolution. The same molecular machines that support genetic integrity by orchestrating accurate repair of the most deleterious DNA lesions, however, also promote survival of cancerous cells and emergence of radiation and chemotherapy resistance. This two-volume set offers a comprehensive set of cutting edge methods to study various aspects of homologous recombination and cellular processes that utilize the enzymatic machinery of recombination The chapters are written by the leading researches and cover a broad range of topics from the basic molecular mechanisms of recombinational proteins and enzymes to emerging cellular techniques and drug discovery efforts.

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.