Molecular Biology Blog: The blog for research scientists and advanced students

Recommended books on biotechnology:

Lab-on-a-Chip Technology: Fabrication and Microfluidics
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Keith E. Herold and Avraham Rasooly
Publication date: August 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-46-2
"An essential book for biologists and clinicians using LOC technology"

Lab-on-a-Chip Technology: Biomolecular Separation and Analysis
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Keith E. Herold and Avraham Rasooly
Publication date: August 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-47-9
"A skillful selection of topics of exceptional importance to current science"

Real-Time PCR: Current Technology and Applications
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Julie Logan, Kirstin Edwards and Nick Saunders
Publication date: January 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-39-4
"a comprehensive guide to the most up-to-date technologies and applications"

Bacterial Polysaccharides: Current Innovations and Future Trends
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Matthias Ullrich
Publication date: June 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-45-5
"the most important innovations in polysaccharide research and biotechnological applications"

Bacterial Secreted Proteins: Secretory Mechanisms and Role in Pathogenesis
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Karl Wooldridge
Publication date: April 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-42-4
"the role of secreted proteins in pathogenesis, drug design and vaccine development"

Microbial Production of Biopolymers and Polymer Precursors: Applications and Perspectives
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Bernd H. A. Rehm
Publication date: January 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-36-3
"the applications and potential applications of biopolymers in biotechnology"

Plasmids: Current Research and Future Trends
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Edited by: Georg Lipps
Publication date: July 2008
ISBN: 978-1-904455-35-6
"... a clear and concise text which will be considered an important reference to plasmid researchers at the graduate level and beyond ..." from Expert Review of Vaccines (2009) January Issue

RNA and the Regulation of Gene Expression: A Hidden Layer of Complexity
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Edited by: Kevin V. Morris
Publication date: March 2008
ISBN: 978-1-904455-25-7
"This book is a well-selected compilation of 14 mostly review-style articles, written by experts in the field ... a well-written, successful endeavour" from ChemBioChem (2008) 9: 2005-2007

Epigenetics
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Jorg Tost
Publication date: March 2008
ISBN: 978-1-904455-23-3
"... a significant collection of articles, relating to various aspects of epigenetics" from Microbiology Today (2008)

Other books of interest:

• PCR books
• Molecular Biology books
• Microbiology books

Labels: biotechnology, books, publications

Epigenetics is the study of meiotically and mitotically heritable changes in gene expression which are not coded for in the DNA. Exactly how these epigenetic modifications are directed to the particular gene and the local chromatin has remained enigmatic. Three distinct mechanisms appear to be intricately related and implicated in initiating and/or sustaining epigenetic modifications; DNA methylation, RNA-associated silencing, and histone modifications.

In human cells RNA can specifically direct epigenetic modifications to targeted loci (the promoter regions) and modulate silencing. This regulatory effect is through RNA-associated silencing, can be transcriptional in nature, and is operable through an RNA interference based mechanism (RNAi) that is specifically mediated by the antisense strand of small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). These recent observations represent a paradigm shift in which a hidden layer of complexity is involved in gene regualtion and is operative via the action RNA essentially epigenetically regulating DNA.

from Kevin V. Morris (2008). RNA Mediated Transcriptional Gene Silencing. In: Morris, K.V. (Ed.) RNA and the Regulation of Gene Expression: A Hidden Layer of Complexity. Caister Academic Press, Norfolk, UK.

Further reading:

1. Epigenetics
2. RNA and the Regulation of Gene Expression: A Hidden Layer of Complexity
3. Molecular Biology Books

Labels: epigenetics, expression, gene regulation, regulation, RNA, RNAi, siRNA

Lab-on-a-Chip Technology: Biomolecular Separation and Analysis
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Keith E. Herold and Avraham Rasooly
Publication date: August 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-47-9
A skillful selection of topics of exceptional importance to current science ensures that this book will be of major value to a wide range of molecular biologists, clinical scientists, microbiologists, biochemists and anyone interested in LOC technology or developing applications for LOC devices.
further information

Lab-on-a-Chip Technology: Fabrication and Microfluidics
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Keith E. Herold and Avraham Rasooly
Publication date: August 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-46-2
This comprehensive volume presents the current technologies in the field and includes theoretical and technical information to enable both the understanding of the technology and the reproduction of experiments. The book aims to help the reader to understand current LOC technologies, to perform similar experiments, to design new LOC systems and to develop new methodologies and applications.
further information

Real-Time PCR: Current Technology and Applications
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Julie Logan, Kirstin Edwards and Nick Saunders
Publication date: January 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-39-4
This essential manual presents a comprehensive guide to the most up-to-date technologies and applications as well as providing an overview of the theory of this increasingly important technique.
further information

Microbial Production of Biopolymers and Polymer Precursors: Applications and Perspectives
Publisher: Caister Academic Press
Editor: Bernd H. A. Rehm
Publication date: January 2009
ISBN: 978-1-904455-36-3
Topics include the biochemistry and genetics of biosynthesis of xanthan, alginate, cellulose, cyanophycin, poly(gamma-glutamic acid), levan, hyaluronic acid, organic acids, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, and polyhydroxyalkanoates. A recommended book for all biotechnology and microbiology laboratories.
further information

Labels: biopolymers, books, lab on a chip, LOC, microfluidics, PCR

Designed molecules that recognize specific sequences within chromosomal DNA could provide useful probes for natural cellular processes, tools for laboratory experimentation, and lead compounds for therapeutic development. It was discovered that duplex DNA could be recognized by conjugates consisting of DNA oligonucleotides and cationic proteins or peptides. Similarly efficient recognition by neutral peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) was observed. It was found that duplex RNAs could also mediate efficient recognition of duplex DNA. RNAs can target transcription start sites and either inhibit or activate gene expression. This indicates that promoter-targeted RNAs can be powerful tools for regulating gene expression.

from Corey, DR (2008) RNA-Mediated Recognition of Chromosomal DNA. In: Morris , K.V. (Ed.) RNA and the Regulation of Gene Expression: A Hidden Layer of Complexity. Caister Academic Press, Norfolk, UK.

Labels: expression, gene regulation, PNA, promoter, regulation, RNA, therapeutics

The Wood-Whelan Fellowships were established about 1983 by funds provided by an appeal among the world's biochemists for the purpose of granting short-term fellowships to young biochemists to carry out research and training in a laboratory other than their own. This fellowship was named after Harland Wood, former General Secretary and President of IUB, and William Whelan, former General Secretary of IUB and former President of IUBMB. Additions to the funds were made by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The fellowships are awarded for travel lasting 1 - 4 months. A fellowship is intended to cover travel and incidental costs, as well as living expenses, to a maximum of $3,000. The costs do not cover research expenses at the laboratory to be visited. They are not awarded to attend courses, symposia, meetings or congresses. Applicants must be residents of countries that are members of IUBMB and should generally be graduate students or young researchers less than 35 years old.

Further information

Labels: grants

A pyknon is a new type of putative regulatory motif that named from the greek adjective for dense. By definition, pyknons are variable length sequences with a statistically significant number of intact copies in the intergenic and intronic regions of the genome and additional copies in the untranslated or amino acid coding regions of known transcripts. Even though the original presentation discussed pyknons in the context of the human genome, pyknons likely represent a more general architectural component of eukaryotic genomes. The exact role of pyknons is currently unclear but the findings so far support a regulatory responsibility. The possibility has been raised that pyknons hint at a previously unseen layer of cell process regulation.

from Rigoutsos, I (2008) Pyknons as putative novel and organism-specific regulatory motifs In: Morris , K.V. (Ed.) RNA and the Regulation of Gene Expression: A Hidden Layer of Complexity. Caister Academic Press, Norfolk, UK.

Labels: gene regulation, pyknon, regulation, RNA

MicroRNAs are short, ~22 nucleotide regulatory RNAs, first discovered in Caenhorhabditis elegans. Hundreds of microRNAs have been identified in plants and animals. Based on the current number of predicted microRNAs, one to three percent of genomic DNA is believed to encode these small, regulatory RNAs.

MicroRNAs inhibit protein synthesis by binding to their target mRNAs and regulating gene expression in a post-transcriptional manner. The exact mechanism by which target gene expression is down-regulated is unclear; however, experimental evidence has led to several different theories to explain microRNA-mediated mRNA repression. These possible mechanisms include target degradation, localization to P-bodies, inhibition of translation initiation or elongation, mRNA deadenylation, and mRNA destabilization.

from Chin and Slack in RNA and the Regulation of Gene Expression: A Hidden Layer of Complexity

Further reading: RNA and the Regulation of Gene Expression

Labels: gene regulation, microRNA, mRNA, regulation, RNA