Award-winning researchers review of key aspects of DNA repair in a wide variety of organisms, including all-important model systems. The book focuses on DNA damage and repair in prokaryotic and model eukaryotic systems, emphasizing the significant progress that has been made in the past five years. Each chapter has undergone a rigorous peer-review cycle to ensure definitive and comprehensive treatment. Major topics include UV and X-Ray repair, repair of chemical damage, recombinational repair, mismatch repair, transcription-repair coupling, and the role of DNA repair in cell cycle regulation.

Jac A. Nickoloff and Merl F. Hoekstra update and expand their two earlier acclaimed volumes (Vol. I: DNA Repair in Prokaryotes and Lower Eukaryotes and Vol. II: DNA Repair in Higher Eurkaryotes) with cutting-edge reviews by leading authorities of primary experimental findings about DNA repair processes in cancer biology. The reviews cover a wide range of topics from viruses and prokaryotes to higher eukaryotes, and include several new topics, among them the role of recombination in replication of damaged DNA, X-ray crystallographic analysis of DNA repair protein structures, DNA repair proteins and teleomere function, and the roles of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in DNA repair. Authoritative and up-to-date, DNA Damage and Repair, Vol. III: Advances from Phage to Humans surveys the rapidly moving research in DNA damage and repair, and explains the important functional relationships among different DNA repair pathways and the relationship between DNA repair pathways, cancer etiology, and cancer therapies.

Cutting edge reviews by leading researchers illuminate key aspects of DNA repair in mammalian systems and its relationship to human genetic disease and cancer. Major topics include UV and X-Ray repair, repair of chemical damage, recombinational repair, mismatch repair, transcription-repair coupling, and the role of DNA repair in disease prevention. Extensive up-to-date references and rigorous peer-review of each chapter make this volume definitive and bring it to the active frontiers of research.

Gene transfer is an essential technology for improving our under standing of gene structure and function. Although there are many meth ods by which DNA may be introduced into cells-including heat and chemical treatments, and microinjection-electroporation has been found to be the most versatile gene transfer technique. Electroporation is effective with a wide variety of cell types, including those that are difficult to transform by other means. For many cell types, electroporation is either the most efficient or the only means known to effect gene transfer. The early and broad success of electric field-medi ated DNA transfer soon prompted researchers to investigate electroporation for transferring other types of molecules into cells, in cluding RNA, enzymes, antibodies, and analytic dyes. The first section of Plant Cell Electroporation and Electrofusion Protocols includes two chapters that serve as a guide to theoretical and practical aspects of electroporation, and will be of particular interest to those developing protocols for as yet untested species or cell types, and a third chapter that describes commercially available electroporation instruments. The remaining chapters describe well-tested protocols for DNA electrotransfection, electroporation of other biomolecules, or cell electrofusion. These chapters also include brief discussions of alterna tives to electric field-based methods, citing the advantages and limita tions of the various methods for achieving specific goals."

The ability to introduce macromolecules into animal cells, includ ing DNA, RNA, proteins, and other bioactive compounds has facili tated a broad range of biological studies, from biochemistry and biophysics to molecular biology, cell biology, and whole animal stud ies. Gene transfer technology in particular will continue to play an essential role in studies aimed at improving our understanding of the relationships between the gene structure and function, and it has impor tant practical applications in both biotechnology and biomedicine, as evidenced by the current intense interest in gene therapy. Although DNA and other macromolecules may be introduced into cells by a variety of methods, including chemical treatments and microinjection, el- troporation has proven to be simpler to perform, more efficient, and effective with a wider variety of cell types than other techniques. The early and broad success of electric field-mediated DNA transfer soon prompted researchers to investigate electroporation for transferring other types of molecules into cells, including RNA, enzymes, antibodies, and analytic dyes. Animal Cell Electroporation and Electrofusion Protocols begins with three chapters that describe the theoretical and practical aspects of electroporation, including a review of the commercially available instrumentation. These introductory chapters will be of particular inter est to those new to electric field technologies and to those developing protocols for as yet untested species or cell types. Nineteen chapters follow that present well-tested protocols for electroporation of proteins and DNA into insect, fish, and mammalian cells.

Electroporation is one of the most widespread techniques used in modem molecular genetics. It is most commonly used to introduce DNA into cells for investigations of gene structure and function, and in this regard, electroporation is both highly versatile, being effective with nearly all species and cell types, and highly efficient. For many cell types, electroporation is either the most efficient or the only means known to effect gene transfer. However, exposure of cells to brief, hi- intensity electric fields has found broad application in other aspects of biological research, and is now routinely used to introduce other types of biological and analytic molecules into cells, to induce cell-cell fusion, and to transfer DNA directly between different species. The first seven chapters of Electroporation Protocols for Micro organisms describe the underlying theory of electroporation, the com mercially available instrumentation, and a number of specialized electroporation applications, such as cDNA library construction and interspecies DNA electrotransfer. Each of the remaining chapters pre sents a well developed method for electrotransformation of a particular bacterial, fungal, or protist species. These chapters also serve to intro duce those new to the field the important research questions that are currently being addressed with particular organisms, highlighting both the major advantages and limitations of each species as a model organ ism, and explaining the roles that electroporation has played in the development of the molecular genetic systems currently in use."

Cutting edge reviews by leading researchers illuminate key aspects of DNA repair in mammalian systems and its relationship to human genetic disease and cancer. Major topics include UV and X-Ray repair, repair of chemical damage, recombinational repair, mismatch repair, transcription-repair coupling, and the role of DNA repair in disease prevention. Extensive up-to-date references and rigorous peer-review of each chapter make this volume definitive and bring it to the active frontiers of research.

Jac A. Nickoloff and Merl F. Hoekstra update and expand their two earlier acclaimed volumes (Vol. I: DNA Repair in Prokaryotes and Lower Eukaryotes and Vol. II: DNA Repair in Higher Eurkaryotes) with cutting-edge reviews by leading authorities of primary experimental findings about DNA repair processes in cancer biology. The reviews cover a wide range of topics from viruses and prokaryotes to higher eukaryotes, and include several new topics, among them the role of recombination in replication of damaged DNA, X-ray crystallographic analysis of DNA repair protein structures, DNA repair proteins and teleomere function, and the roles of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in DNA repair. Authoritative and up-to-date, DNA Damage and Repair, Vol. III: Advances from Phage to Humans surveys the rapidly moving research in DNA damage and repair, and explains the important functional relationships among different DNA repair pathways and the relationship between DNA repair pathways, cancer etiology, and cancer therapies.