Bioinformatics Basics: Applications in Biological Science and Medicine [Hardcover]

Hooman H. Rashidi (Author), Lukas K. Buehler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0849323754 | ISBN-13: 978-0849323751 | Publication Date: December 15, 1999 | Edition: 1

Scientists in the throes of research use an extensive data bank to access structural information on proteins and nucleic acids. Meanwhile, geneticists use a highly specialized form of software to analyze the hybridization pattern of DNA chips.

The past decade has been tremendously successful for biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. This success has been a result of astounding technical advancements in genome sequencing (genomics), protein identification (proteomics), and data analysis-collectively called bioinformatics. The exponential increase in computer processing and disk storage has served as a catalyst and been instrumental in the development of bioinformatics.

Bioinformatics Basics: Applications in Biological Science and Medicine describes the origin of this field and the organization of public domain databases with an introductory tutorial for the services described. This book explains these services in a relatively simple fashion. Nevertheless, a biological background is necessary to understand and properly utilize the various software components and services described in this book. A basic biological background is also necessary for understanding the biological and medical significance of the collected data.

Bioinformatics Basics is a fast growing field, and it will take some years for a stabilization to occur. Until then, hundreds of Internet sites allow us to search, compare, and manipulate this data in its relatively raw format. Bioinformatics Basics: Applications in Biological Science and Medicine concentrates on three major database clusters and relevant software tools that are maintained in the United States, Europe, and Japan, offering free access and analysis through the Internet.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Rashidi; Hooman

Bioinformatics Basics: Applications in Biological Science and Medicine has now been adopted as a reference text at MIT for its primary course in Bioinformatics.

About the Author

Rashidi; Hooman Consultant, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, USA,Buehler; Lukas K. Consultant, La Jolla, California, USA,

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 1 edition (December 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849323754
• ISBN-13: 978-0849323751
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,862,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid starting place for a novice, May 9, 2001

By 

dubbio1 (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bioinformatics Basics: Applications in Biological Science and Medicine (Hardcover)

I'm always looking for a good guide book for undergrads and biocomputing novices that covers the basics without getting carried away with algorithmic minutiae. I found this book a fair place to start for those who have no idea of what is out there. The tools and Web sites described are mainstays and likely won't be going anywhere. However, if you are already moderately knowledgeable, you will exhaust this book immediately. The nature of the field is constant movement toward newer and more thorough tools. This is not a users' guide: go to the referenced Web sites themselves to get the most up to date, accurate information.

I would refer a naive beginner to get this book at the library, but I wouldn't put it on my own shelf.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An expensive hodgepodge, January 9, 2002

By 

John Rachlin (Newton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bioinformatics Basics: Applications in Biological Science and Medicine (Hardcover)

Books about bioinformatics are as diverse as the field itself. It may not be possible to do justice to this new and exciting field in 168 pages. My concern with this book, however, lies not with the choice of topics, but rather with its incoherent presentation. Distracting parenthetical remarks pervade the text as in this excerpt from the beginning of the 3rd chapter: "DNA sequences are often found based on predictive tools, meaning that sequence similarities of newly discovered genes yield information about their physiological functions and structures, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), finding sequence fragments of significance (how is significance judged? By predictive biology, once again), finding distribution of genes or mRNAs (often an indicator of gene activity in an organism), and amplifying the amount of DNA for purification, sequencing, and mutational analysis." (p. 143).

Chapter 5 entitled "The Computer Revolution in Neurobiology" we find the following unexpected text: "One rationale for human cloning is that it could alleviate many of the problems associated with our unique characteristics. The genetic information (DNA) of a cloned organ is identical to that of the individual needing the organ. Hence, the cloned organ would be accepted by the individual's body as part of itself and would have a smaller probability of rejection." (p. 159). [Nevermind the enormous ethical implications!]

Throughout, one has the sense of a book rushed to market to take advantage of an exciting scientific trend. The book presents nothing that can't be found on-line and it gives readers no sense of the computational challenges of the field. ...

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I own this title in my library and is well worth the money!, January 9, 2002

By 

"palmmed02" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bioinformatics Basics: Applications in Biological Science and Medicine (Hardcover)

I am a novice in bioinformatics and have found this book to be invaluable in getting me started without intimidating me. I have owned the book for over a year and still find it very useful but I am waiting for an update to this title soon since I have enjoyed the organization of the book. It has given me a global picture of informatics and chapters with specific examples and applications. I am sure a second edition to this book will be well recieved by the audience and I am hoping to see it soon since the new bioinformatics book I have just purchased is not to my liking.