Rosalind Franklin


Book Description

In 1962, Maurice Wilkins, Francis Crick, and James Watson received the Nobel Prize, but it was Rosalind Franklin's data and photographs of DNA that led to their discovery. Brenda Maddox tells a powerful story of a remarkably single-minded, forthright, and tempestuous young woman who, at the age of fifteen, decided she was going to be a scientist, but who was airbrushed out of the greatest scientific discovery of the twentieth century.




Nature Encyclopedia of the Human Genome


Book Description

Nature Encyclopedia of the Human Genome is the only reference resource devoted entirely to the scientific basis and genetics and genomics research and the complex commercial, philosophical, and ethical questions that arise from it. It presents a comprehensive and rigorously detailed overview of current genome science and its groundbreaking applications, examining the many topics that surround the field from the differing perspectives of history, philosophy, ethics, law, medicine, public health, and industry. Core areas covered include: structural genomics, functional genomics, chromosome structure and function, evolution and comparative genomics, genome mapping and sequencing, genes and disease, behavioural and psychiatric genetics, mathematical and population genetics, proteomics, bioinformatics, ethical, legal and social issues and biographies or key figures.




Curiosity Guides: The Human Genome


Book Description

The DNA sequence that comprises the human genome--the genetic blueprint found in each of our cells--is undoubtedly the greatest code ever to be broken. Completed at the dawn of a new millennium, the feat electrified both the scientific community and the general public with its tantalizing promise of new and better treatments for countless diseases, including Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson's. Yet what is arguably the most important discovery of our time has also opened a Pandora's box of questions about who we are as humans and how the unique information stored in our genomes can and might be used, making it all the more important for everyone to understand the new science of genomics. In the CURIOSITY GUIDE TO THE HUMAN GENOME, Dr. John Quackenbush, a renowned scientist and professor, conducts a fascinating tour of the history and science behind the Human Genome Project and the technologies that are revolutionizing the practice of medicine today. With a clear and engaging narrative style, he demystifies the fundamental principles of genetics and molecular biology, including the astounding ways in which genes function, alone or together with other genes and the environment, to either sustain life or trigger disease. In addition, Dr. Quackenbush goes beyond medicine to examine how DNA-sequencing technology is changing how we think of ourselves as a species by providing new insights about our earliest ancestors and reconfirming our inextricable link to all life on earth. Finally, he explores the legal and ethical questions surrounding such controversial topics as stem cell research, prenatal testing, forensics, and cloning, making this volume of the Curiosity Guides series an indispensable resource for navigating our brave new genomic world.










Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome


Book Description

There is growing enthusiasm in the scientific community about the prospect of mapping and sequencing the human genome, a monumental project that will have far-reaching consequences for medicine, biology, technology, and other fields. But how will such an effort be organized and funded? How will we develop the new technologies that are needed? What new legal, social, and ethical questions will be raised? Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome is a blueprint for this proposed project. The authors offer a highly readable explanation of the technical aspects of genetic mapping and sequencing, and they recommend specific interim and long-range research goals, organizational strategies, and funding levels. They also outline some of the legal and social questions that might arise and urge their early consideration by policymakers.




Environmental Genomics


Book Description

Here is a manual for an environmental scientist who wishes to embrace genomics to answer environmental questions. The volume covers: gene expression profiling, whole genome and chromosome mutation detection, and methods to assay genome diversity and polymorphisms within a particular environment. This book provides a systematic framework for determining environmental impact and ensuring human health and the sustainability of natural populations.




Junk DNA


Book Description

From the author of the acclaimed The Epigenetics Revolution (‘A book that would have had Darwin swooning’ – Guardian) comes another thrilling exploration of the cutting edge of human science. For decades after the structure of DNA was identified, scientists focused purely on genes, the regions of the genome that contain codes for the production of proteins. Other regions – 98% of the human genome – were dismissed as ‘junk’. But in recent years researchers have discovered that variations in this ‘junk’ DNA underlie many previously intractable diseases, and they can now generate new approaches to tackling them. Nessa Carey explores, for the first time for a general audience, the incredible story behind a controversy that has generated unusually vituperative public exchanges between scientists. She shows how junk DNA plays an important role in areas as diverse as genetic diseases, viral infections, sex determination in mammals, human biological complexity, disease treatments, even evolution itself – and reveals how we are only now truly unlocking its secrets, more than half a century after Crick and Watson won their Nobel prize for the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1962.




Encyclopedia of Metagenomics


Book Description

Metagenomics has taken off as one of the major cutting-edge fields of research. The field has broad implications for human health and disease, animal production, and environmental health. Metagenomics has opened up a wealth of data, tools, technologies and applications that allow us to access the majority of organisms that we still cannot access in pure culture (an estimated 99% of microbial life). Numerous research groups are developing tools, approaches and applications to deal with this new field, as larger data sets from environments including the human body, the oceans and soils are being generated. See for example the human microbiome initiative (HMP; http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/hmp/) which has become a world-wide effort, and the Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) surveys; http://www.jcvi.org/cms/research/projects/gos/overview/). The number of publications as measured through PubMed that are focused on metagenomics continues to increase. The field of metagenomics continues to evolve with large common datasets available to the scientific community. A concerted effort is needed to collate all this information in a centralized place. By having all the information in an Encyclopedia form, we have an opportunity to gather seminal contributions from the leaders in the field, and at the same time provide this information to a significant number of junior and senior scientists. It is anticipated that the Encyclopedia will also be used by many other groups including, clinicians, undergraduate and graduate level students, as well as ethical and legal groups associated with or interested in the issues surrounding metagenome science.




Encyclopedia of Cancer


Book Description

This comprehensive encyclopedic reference provides rapid access to focused information on topics of cancer research for clinicians, research scientists and advanced students. Given the overwhelming success of the first edition, which appeared in 2001, and fast development in the different fields of cancer research, it has been decided to publish a second fully revised and expanded edition. With an A-Z format of over 7,000 entries, more than 1,000 contributing authors provide a complete reference to cancer. The merging of different basic and clinical scientific disciplines towards the common goal of fighting cancer makes such a comprehensive reference source all the more timely.