This book is evolved from a course in molecular biology which the Author have been teaching primarily to graduate students for the past twenty years.
Because the subject is now mature, it is possible to present the material by covering the principles and encouraging students to learn how to apply them. Such an approach is particularly efficient as the subject of molecular genetics now is far too advanced, large, and complex for much value to come from attempting to cover the material in an encyclopedia-like fashion or teaching the definition of the relevant words in a dictionary-like approach.
Only the core of molecular genetics can be covered by present approach. Most of the reminder of the vast subject however, is a logical extension of the ideas and principles presented here. One consequence of the principles and analysis approach taken here is that the material is not easy.
Thinking and learning to reason from the fundamentals require serious effort, but ultimately, are more efficient and more rewarding than mere memorization.
An auxiliary objective of this presentation is to help students develop an appreciation for elegant and beautiful experiments. A substantial number of such experiments are explained in the text, and the cited papers contain many more.
The book contains three types of information. The main part of each chapter in the text. Following each chapter are references and problems.
References are arranged by topic, and one topic is "Suggested Readings". The additional references cited permit a student or researcher to find many of the fundamental papers on a topic. Some of these are on topics directly covered in the text. Because solving problems helps focus one's attention and stimulates understanding, many thought-provoking problems or paradoxes are provided. Some of these require use of material in addition to the text. Solutions are provided to about half of the problems.
Although the ideal preparation for taking course and using the book would be the completion of preliminary courses in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and physical chemistry, few students have such a background. Most commonly, only one or two of the above-mentioned courses have been taken, with some students coming from a more physical or chemical background, and other students coming from a more biological background.
My course consists of two lectures and one discussion session per week, with most chapters being covered in one lectures often summarize material of a chapter and then discuss in depth a recent paper that extends the material of the chapter. Additional readings of original research papers are an important part of the course for graduate students, and typically such two papers are assigned per lecture. Normal, two problems from the ends of the chapters are assigned per lecture. Many of the ideas presented in the book have been sharpened by my frequent discussions with Pieter Wensink, and Author thank him for this. The Author wishes to thank his editors, James Funston for guidance on the first edition and Yale Altman and Richard O'Grady for ensuring the viability of the second edition. He also thank members of my laboratory and the following who read and commented on portions of the manuscript: Karen Beemon, Howard Berg, Don Brown, Victor Corces, Jeff Corden, David Draper, Mike Edidin, Bert Ely, Richard Gourse, Ed Hedgecock, Roger Hendrix, Jay Hirsh, Andy Hoyt, Amar Klar, Ed Lattman, Roger McMacken, Howard Nash, and Peter Privalov.
About the Author:
Robert Schleif is a professor in the department of biology at the Johns Hopkins University and the co-author of Practical Methods in Molecular Biology. He has been the recipient of a Helen Hay Whitney Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Harvard University and an NIH Career Development Award. His current research utilizes genetics, physiology, and recombinant DNA technology to study the mechanism of regulation of the E. coli L-arabinose operon.
About the Publisher:
Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The Press publishes books, journals, and electronic databases. Considering all its units (books, journals, fulfillment, and electronic resources) it is a contender for America's largest university press. Its headquarters are in Charles Village, Baltimore.
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Author: Robert Schleif
Language: English
Format: PDF
Pages: 705
ISBN: 0-8018-4674-9
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