Books in the Methods in Molecular Biology series

PCR methods for the detection of microbial pathogens have made relatively little impact in diagnostic microbiology laboratories due to the common decision to use expensive commercially produced tests rather than the cheaper alternative of developing one's own tests or introducing tests developed by other workers.

New pathways have been discovered and expanded our knowledge of the ways in which genes and gene products affect bone cells and thereby bone mass and bone strength.

The haemostatic system is one the most important physiological systems for maintaining health and well being, and thus the investigation of the haemostatic system remains a research priority.

In Characterization of Nanoparticles Intended for Drug Delivery, expert researchers explore the latest advances in the field, providing a set of basic methods for the characterization of nanomaterials for medical use.

Metagenomics has proven to be a powerful tool for exploring the ecology, metabolic profiling, and comparison of complex microbial communities as well as its important applications in the mining of metagenomes for genes encoding novel biocatalysts and drug molecules for bioindustries.

While there is a wide selection of 'by experts, for experts' books in statistics and molecular biology, there is a distinct need for a book that presents the basic principles of proper statistical analyses and progresses to more advanced statistical methods in response to rapidly developing technologies and methodologies in the field of molecular biology.  Statistical Methods in Molecular Biology  strives to fill that gap by covering basic and intermediate statistics that are useful for classical molecular biology settings and advanced statistical techniques that can be used to help solve problems commonly encountered in modern molecular biology studies, such as supervised and unsupervised learning, hidden Markov models, methods for manipulation and analysis of high-throughput microarray and proteomic data, and methods for the synthesis of the available evidences. This detailed volume offers molecular biologists a book in a progressive style where basic statistical methods are introduced and gradually elevated to an intermediate level, while providing statisticians knowledge of various biological data generated from the field of molecular biology, the types of questions of interest to molecular biologists, and the state-of-the-art statistical approaches to analyzing the data.  As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology(TM) series, this work provides the kind of meticulous descriptions and implementation advice for diverse topics that are crucial for getting optimal results.   Comprehensive but convenient, Statistical Methods in Molecular Biology will aid students, scientists, and researchers along the pathway from beginning strategies to a deeper understanding of these vital systems of data analysis and interpretation within one concise volume.  "Here is a comprehensive book that systematically covers both basic and advanced statistical topics in molecularbiology, including parametric and nonparametric, and frequentist and Bayesian methods.  I am highly impressed by the breadth and depth of the applications. I strongly recommend this book for both statisticians and biologists who need to communicate with each other in this exciting field of research."- Robert C. Elston, PhD., Director, Division of Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology, Case Western Reserve University "An extraordinary exposition of the central topics of modern molecular biology, presented by practicing experts who weave together rigorous theory with practical techniques and illustrative examples."- George C. Newman, MD, PhD, Chairman, Neurosensory Sciences, Albert Einstein Medical Center "I cannot think of anything we need now in translation research field more than more efficient cross talk between molecular biology and statistics. This book is just on target. It fills the gap."- Iman Osman, MB, BCh, MD, Director, Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Program, New York University Langone Medical Center

While commercial instruments have expanded the usage and the related literature has increased, the quality of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) research has been hindered by a lack of knowledge of the processes that influence the SPR signal.  In Surface Plasmon Resonance: Methods and Protocols , experts in the field present a wide variety of applications involving commercially available SPR instruments. The heart of the SPR technique is to construct a dedicated surface for an assay. Protocols describe such surfaces for many needs, including the study of membrane bound proteins. Beyond the protocols-based chapters, the volume also highlights the backgrounds of vital issues in the use of SPR, including processes occurring within the hydrogel environment of sensors and on lipid membrane surfaces as well as the analysis of kinetic information.  Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Surface Plasmon Resonance: Methods and Protocols fills a need for well-described, hands-on SPR experimental protocols and promises to inspire the adaptation of these techniques to fit the needs of labs around the world.

Therefore, the use of pluripotent stem cells has become the focus of a cell source for myocardial repair and regeneration. Once a stem cell source has been selected, the stem cell needs to be tested in an app- priate animal model before being translated into clinical practice.

After the generation of genome sequence data from a wide variety of plants, databases are filled with sequence information of genes with no known biological function, and while bioinformatics tools can help analyze genome sequences and predict gene structures, experimental approaches to discover gene functions need to be widely implemented.

Membrane proteins play a key role in numerous pathologies such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, hyperinsulinism, and Alzheimer's disease, yet studies on these and other disorders are hampered by a lack of information about the proteins involved.

Interest in the field of microbial toxins is ever growing and spreading across a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. In an effort to supplement the available reference texts on toxins, Microbial Toxins: Methods and Protocols includes protocols on mold fungus toxins, with some focus on aflatoxins.

From the early days when RNA interference was a strange artifact in worms to the 2006 Noble Prize received by Fire and Mello and the current clinical trials, the field of RNA interference has grown at a breakneck pace.

This changing de?nition of disease means that today's undergraduate or graduate student in dentistry (and its related ?elds) must be in a position not only to acquire new knowledge in the future but also to be able to evaluate the information and apply it in a clinically relevant setting.

The kingdom Fungi constitutes an independent group equal in rank to that of plants and animals. Fungi are highly amenable to molecular work, and a few fungal species serve as model systems to study basic processes with results that are applicable to many organisms, including humans.

Recent efforts to characterize genetic variation in the human genome, coupled with the rapidly developing field of genomics, have lead directly to the development of new and innovative approaches to the identification of genes contributing to complex human diseases.

This volume covers an array of topics from the employment of the chick CAM model using fluorescent proteins and other fluorescent probes, to intravital fluorescent imaging, as well as 3-dimensional imaging, and design instructions on how to create new and improved far-red and infrared fluorescent proteins, to name a few.

Chapters outline methods to study miRNA functions in various cell types from a single cell type level to entire model organisms, and present studies of miRNAs in the context of viruses and the immune response.