Books published by Humana Press Inc.

Transposable elements are used as genetic tools for dissecting the function of a specific gene and elaborating on mechanisms leading to genetic change and diversity, and the evolutionary impact of mobile DNA on the biology and evolution of organism.

In Embryo Culture: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field detail many of the methods which are now commonly used to study human embryo culture.

Today, cells are commonly analyzed en masse, with thousands of cells per sample, yielding results on the average response of the cells.

The development of the hybridoma technology created the possibility to obtain unlimited amounts of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) with high specificity and affinity for any target and to introduce mAbs in a wide range of applications;

Population genomics is a recently emerged discipline, which aims at understanding how evolutionary processes influence genetic variation across genomes.

Metabolic engineering is the practice of genetically optimizing metabolic and regulatory networks within cells to increase production and/or recovery of certain substance from cells.

In Liver Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers focus on several hepatic progenitor cells, hepatic differentiation form stem cells, bile ductal cell formation from stem cells, liver stem cells and hepatocarcinogenesi, and application of liver stem cells for cell therapy.

Recent advances in genetics over the last quarter of a century, especially in molecular techniques, have dramatically reduced the cost of determining genetic markers and hence opened up a field of research that is increasingly helping to detect, prevent and/or cure many diseases that afflict humans.

Divided into five convenient sections, Rho GTPase: Methods and Protocols provides an historical overview of the field and an account of the phylogenetics of the Rho family, general biochemical methods, and functional assays that allow monitoring the consequences of manipulating Rho GTPases in a variety of contexts.

Over the past 40 years the field of molecular simulations has evolved from picosecond studies of isolated macromolecules in vacuum to studies of complex, chemically heterogeneous biological systems consisting of millions of atoms, with the simulation time scales spanning up to milliseconds.

Although the available models, whether at the cellular, tissue, or animal level, do not exactly represent the biology of human brain tumors, animal models can offer significant insights into these tumors, providing a better understanding of biological mechanisms underlying tumor generation, growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis.

Amino Acid Analysis: Methods and Protocols presents a broad spectrum of all available methods allowing for readers to choose the method that most suits their particular laboratory set-up and analytical needs.

Our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control skeletal muscle development, regeneration, and adaptive responses to activity has increased dramatically in recent years, fostered by innovative techniques and approaches that are either specifically designed or adapted for research in skeletal muscle biology.

The chapters discuss the use and interpretation of video-aided quantification of zebrafish behaviors, describe novel assays commonly used to quantify emotionality, learning, memory, and social behaviors in zebrafish, and instruct how to quantify endocrine responses and correlate them with behavior.

Sexually transmitted infections (STI) continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality, both in developed industrial countries as well as in the developing world. Human immunodeficiency virus infections and the ensuing opportunistic infections are a major drain on the human and financial resources of many countries in the developing world and even with the availability of effective treatment the epidemic is not yet contained. Screening in developing worlds is difficult and there is a need for simple reliable cheap diagnostic methods that can be performed at the point of care, on the same day and by staff with limited training. Molecular biological methods are very attractive for the diagnosis of STI since a well defined range of pathogens is responsible for the infection. Diagnosis of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Methods and Protocols strives to cover the full range of molecular testing for STI. Chapters cover a variety of topics such as aspects of DNA extraction from small volume samples or difficult tissues, simple, nested or multiplex PCR, use of duplex primers or other modifications of primers and PCR conditions, sequence analysis for genotyping, denaturing gel analysis, microarrays using liquid beads or microspheres and silicon nanoparticle-enhanced microcantilever detection of DNA. Written in the 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 protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Diagnosis of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Methods and Protocols will be a valuable reference for the scientist looking to establish molecular methodologies for the diagnosis of STI tests intheir own lab.

These include methods and techniques of the manipulation of physical forces that shape progenitor cell behavior, studying progenitor cells in vivo, using non-mammalian and mammalian model systems, and investigating human progenitor cells, including their isolation, characterization and application in cell-based therapies.

The basic principle of electron crystallography is to calculate a 3D density map by combining the amplitudes obtained from electron diffraction patterns with the experimental phases calculated from images of two-dimensional crystals of membrane or soluble proteins.

Lipases are the most applied enzymes in organic synthesis due to their broad substrate acceptance and because of the availability of the molecular, biochemical, themodynamical and solvent engineering tools, which allows the optimization of lipases and lipase-catalyzed reactions.

In, Homology Modelling: Methods and Protocols experts in the field describe each homology modeling step from first principles, provide case studies for challenging modeling targets and describe methods for the prediction of how other molecules such as drugs can interact with the protein.