Customer Reviews

Biotechnology for Beginners

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It is often a problem to find books that help you understand the scientific and technical intricacies of a new phenomenon and at the same time shows its historical and social background. Reinhard Renneberg's Biotechnology for Beginners is the best introduction that I have read recently which achieves this purpose eminently. Renneberg takes you on a tour of biotechnology from its origins in fermentation via gene technology to the development of transgenic animals and analysis of the human genome. His core presentation focuses on the scientific explorations and technological achievements, but the supplementary illustrations and boxes presenting historical developments, critical issues or expert opinions enliven the text. Each chapter is also provided with list of recommended literature and websites, together with self-test questions and other aids for discussion of critical issues.

Many popular books on biotechnology tend to engage in partisan discourse on the merits or dangers of the technology, or they try to avoid the controversial issues altogether. Renneberg in my view strikes a good balance, drawing upon many sources of information and opinion.
As a sociologist and historian of science and technology, I am fascinated with the way that he has woven history and persons (and other living organisms) into the presentation of basic facts. In a sense, he complements technical detail with interesting facts about history and social applications in a way that resembles a double helix. The effect is awesome...

I have just ended to read the book: Prof. Renneberg has written a masterpiece. This book is complete, well written, rich of marvelous figures and, very important, the book is strongly didactic. All the aspects of the modern biotechnology are covered.
I really suggest this book to anyone that wants to learn about modern biotechnology: she/he will not be disappointed. The reading of this book is really pleasant.
Thanks to Prof. Renneberg.

This book is very special: If you are a Beginner you will understand it with ease, if you are an Expert in the field you will still find many interesting facts, stories, history and illustrations to keep you reading and reading! It's for Beginners - and more! Excellent work! Dr. Dieter Trau, Singapore

The book "Biotechnology for Beginners" contains a treasure of knowledge for this interdisciplinary area of science, which makes it a unique book. The multitude of scientific areas making up biotechnology has made it a very hard subject to cover in a comprehensible way in a volume that is not too heavy, both physically and reading it. Many textbooks on Biotechnology are biased with too much molecular biology, forgetting that Biotechnology is so much more, which is shown with abundance in this volume. In this book the use of recombinant DNA is integrated in almost all of the chapters, and then it becomes relevant. The book is well suited for students as an introduction into biotechnology, and also for journalists, policy makers, governmental workers and others that get in contact with the wonderful world of microorganisms and higher cells, and what these are able to do for each of us.

On 360 pages the author and editor give a up to date survey of most of the core areas in which biotechnology has made such a crucial impact on our daily lives. The book is generously illustrated and has very useful "boxes" to cover specific subjects from a historical perspective and they are full of unique information. The whole book is filled with facts, some usually not found in textbooks on Biotechnology. So even though I have been in the field for over 25 years, I found a lot of new information.

It must also be said that there are things to improve, hopefully for the 2nd edition. Specifically there are terms that are used without an explanation. To solve this I suggest a glossary at the start of each chapter with explanation of the key words used in the chapter. Just an example, on page 33 the words enthalpy and non-competitive inhibition are used but not explained whereas hydrophilic and hydrophobic are. There are more cases like this and a glossary would solve this problem. Another problem is that to comprehend some parts of the text you need to have some background knowledge in science, specifically biochemistry, and hopefully today's students have that.

A short remark on the spelling of the synonym for bioreactor. A fermenter is an organism which carries out the process of fermentation. A fermentor is a large growth vessel used to culture microorganisms on a large scale, frequently for the production of some commercially valuable product. In this book fermenter is used for bioreactor throughout. There are also other spelling mistakes which should be corrected in an eventual 2nd edition.

Stefan Rokem
Department of Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel

Science is fun.
Science must make dreams come true, but dreams are images.
Most textbooks forget fun and kill dreams; until now.
Reinhard Renneberg breaks the silencing wall of boredom, boringness, and blindness. His textbook is as funny as a manga, as exciting as Indiana Jones, as titillating as Gustave Klimt, and full of bouquet like a Chateau Latour 1982.
Cheers & Bravo!

This is a great book the introduces the student to he whole world of biotechnology. It reviews most of the areas that this discipline works with, form every angle posible. Excellent images for examples and a lot of information. Every biotechnology student should have it.

This book is an attractively presented and clearly written introduction to the topic of biotechnology. As such it would be good reference book for High School teachers and undergraduate students to get an overview of the subject, and for interested and scientifically literate 'lay people' who have been mystified by the many advances in this area over the last 30 -40 years. The author has tackled many of the controversial aspects of biotechnology as well as giving a historical perspective on them. I find it fascinating and accessible.

For those of us who are concerned about the ethics of biotechnological advances this could be a useful place to begin gathering a more in-depth knowledge of what actually is going on in the field of, for example, genetic engineering,its potential and its pitfalls, and therefore enable us to be more objective in our assessment of the many questions that are raised. Advances in scientific knowledge and technology is not ethically good or bad, but the use we make of this knowledge does have ethical implications. Society has a responsibility to monitor the ethics of the use we make of this knowledge and this book can go a long way towards demystifying biotechnology for society as a whole and avoid us missing its potential for medicine and agriculture, as well as its dangers.