This book details the most comprehensive, up-to -date, and cutting-edge protocols used in wet and dry labs to investigate the viral communities harbored within and on the human body. Chapters guide readers through methods on collection, isolation, identification and computational/statistical analysis, and body niches to cover those methodological issues inherent to the human tissues and organs. 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, The Human Virome: Methods and Protocols aims to facilitate researchers with their daily work in the field of the research on the human virome.

This book explores the exciting world of theoretical biology and is divided into three sections. The first section examines the roles played by renowned scientists such as Jacob, Monod, Rosen, Turing, von Bertalanffy, Waddington and Woodger in developing the field of theoretical biology. The second section, aided with numerous examples, supports the idea that logic and computing are suitable formal languages to describe and understand biological phenomena. The third and final section is, without doubt, the most intellectually challenging and endeavors to show the possible paths we could take to compute a cell - the basic unit of life - or the conditions required for a predictive theory of biological evolution; ultimately, a theory of life in the light of modern Systems Biology. The work aims to show that modern biology is closer than ever to making Goethe's dream come true and that we have reached a point where synthetic and analytical traditions converge to shed light on the living being as a whole.

Less than 150 years have elapsed since the publication of Darwin's seminal work on evolution by natural selection, yet in this short period of time evolutionary theory has transformed our thinking in all aspects of human endeavor. The rapid progress that has been made, particularly in the last decades, is reflected in this book, which illustrates many key advances in the field and provides a sampler of the diversity of questions and research approaches that constitute the modern study of evolution. With contributions from leading experts, "Evolution: From Molecules to Ecosystems" addresses issues ranging from the fate of mutations to the origin of new genes, from mechanisms of speciation to patterns of radiation after mass extinctions, from recent migrations to ancient relationships, from symbiosis to virulent disease, and from the origin of play to perceptions of beauty. The book is designed to be advanced and up-to-date, but at the same time accessible and relevant to readers from the fields of genetics, ecology, animal behavior, anthropology and evolutionary biology. It will be particularly useful as a companion text for introductory and upper level courses in evolutionary biology.