Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology) [Hardcover]

Stephen Misener (Editor), Stephen A. Krawetz (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0896037320 | ISBN-13: 978-0896037328 | Publication Date: January 15, 2000 | Edition: 1st

Hands-on users and experts survey the key biological software packages, offering useful tips and an overview of current developments. Among the sequence analysis systems reviewed are GCG, Omiga, MacVector, DNASTAR, PepTool™, GeneTool™, and the Staden Package. Molecular biology software includes Genotator and sequence-similarity searching using FASTA, CLUSTAL multiple sequence alignment, and phylogenetic analysis. Web-based resources are examined for primary sequence databases, primary sequence analysis methods, and clinical databases useful in molecular medicine. Numerous illustrative examples to teach the reader how to solve problems are included. Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols constitutes a gold-standard reference for today's scientists who wish to develop and hone their bioinformatics skills towards the discovery of new biological relationships.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There has been a need for a book of this kind for some time. It is remarkably complete and could be extremely useful for those laboratories that are thinking seriously about their bioinformatic requirements...The chapters are clearly laid out and the text is generally easy to read and refreshingly free of much of the jargon that can be found in bioinformatics...I would highly recommend it for institutional purchase." -Microbiology Today "...there are some real gems in Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols; the chapter on phylogenetic analysis presents enough information to produce a tree that one could submit for publication without too much apprehension, and William Pearson's clear and trenchant discussion of his FASTA programs (and the similar BLAST suite) alone might justify the purchase of this book..." -Tibtech "This book is an interesting mix of the practical and theoretical aspects of bioinformatics, and those readers interested in obtaining information on specific tools and resources will not be disappointed....this book provides a nice overview of a number of different aspects of the field. The focus on inexpensive tools and resources is also likely to be very popular with those scientists new to the field and possibly just starting their careers as independent researchers. Bioinformatics Methods and Protocols is an invaluable resource for this target audience. It is a solid introduction to the practical aspects of bioinformatics research." -Biotech Software & Internet Report "This book gives many details concerning the computational challenges facing biologists and their likely future solutions, cities shareware that can be used to build an analysis suite to meet specific needs, describes software, databases, and other resources available on the www, discusses common image analysis techniques, reviews oligonucleotide and PCR-primer design, serves as an important bioinformatics teaching resource and provides, a tested course design and resource for an introductory graduate level course." - Cellular and Molecular Biology "It is a useful aid to choosing software, the material on the design of an introductory course will be useful to some, and parts of it will serve as good guides to particular pieces of software." -Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education

From the Back Cover

In Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols, hands-on users and experts survey the key biological software packages, offering useful tips and an overview of current developments. Among the sequence analysis systems reviewed are GCG, Omiga, MacVector, DNASTAR, PepTool, GeneTool, and Staden. Molecular biology software includes Genotator and sequence-similarity searching using FASTA, CLUSTAL multiple sequence alignment, and phylogenic analysis. Web-based resources are examined for primary sequence databases, primary sequence analysis methods, and clinical databases useful in molecular medicine. The book also includes a set of guidelines for designing and teaching an introductory bioinformatics course and numerous illustrative examples to teach the reader how to solve problems. Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols offers to experienced and novice biologists a broad overview of the computational tools that have reshaped modern biology. It constitutes a gold-standard reference for today's scientists who wish to develop and hone their bioinformatics skills towards the discovery of new biological relationships.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Humana Press; 1st edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896037320
• ISBN-13: 978-0896037328
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,502,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An overview of the software tools for Molecular biology, March 24, 2000

By 

Pethuru Raj Chelliah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology) (Hardcover)

This book gives an overview of the powerful suite of software tools available for various computer applications of molecular biology. The initial chapters talk about many programs(comparisons, Database searching, sequence analysis, Gene Finding, pattern recognition, etc.) and web-based interfaces in addition to the utilities for sequences, databases etc., packed in Wisconsin package apart from short briefs of how to use these tools in a desktop environment. Also this book gives the details of sequence analysis tool called Omiga and its diverse functionalities.

Biological Sequence analysis software like MacVector and Lasergene gets enough attention in this book. Also sequence type-dependent and platform-independen tools like PepTool and GeneTool are also explained in detail.

Two important applications in molecular biology, gene identification and biological pattern detection have received a greater significance here. There is also a chapter about network computing for biologists.

This book lists out a set of free molecular biology software available in different web servers. A lot of relevant information about the journals online, research institutions and organisations and biological information repositories with their web site details and references are also accommodated. There are separate chapters for web-based resources for NCBI(National Center for Biotechnology Information)and EBI(European Bioinformatics Institute) besides a number of computing resources for geneticists.

In contrast to the notion of using mathematical and computational methods for solving different problems in modern biology, there is a chapter on computing with DNA, which talks about using chemical properties of DNA sequences to design a universally programmable molecular computer.

The editors have taken greater efforts in covering almost all vital tools and packages like Staden package, FASTA3 package, CLUSTAL programs, Primer3 on the WWW and Genotator in addition to phylogenetic Analysis using PHYLIP and low cost gel analysis.

On the other hand, the editors could have asked for a couple of more chapters on designing CORBA servers towards true interoperability of diverse biological databases, wrapping of legacy applications , integrating various biological software tools and desiging user-friendly graphical user interfaces using the new entrants like Java and CORBA.

Still this is a very good book for those with a thought of plunging into this ever-growing field of Bioinformatics.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good to see whats around, Bad for developers, May 28, 2001

By 

Mark (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology) (Hardcover)

Not a bad book for Bioinformatics users who want to see what is around but this kind of information dates very rapidly.

Not a very good book for people interested in developing for bioinformatics (although it may prevent you from reinventing the wheel)