Essential Bioinformatics [Paperback]

Jin Xiong (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521600820 | ISBN-13: 978-0521600828 | Publication Date: March 13, 2006 | Edition: 1

Essential Bioinformatics is a concise yet comprehensive textbook of bioinformatics, which provides a broad introduction to the entire field. Written specifically for a life science audience, the basics of bioinformatics are explained, followed by discussions of the state-of-the-art computational tools available to solve biological research problems. All key areas of bioinformatics are covered including biological databases, sequence alignment, genes and promoter prediction, molecular phylogenetics, structural bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics. The book emphasizes how computational methods work and compares the strengths and weaknesses of different methods. This balanced yet easily accessible text will be invaluable to students who do not have sophisticated computational backgrounds. Technical details of computational algorithms are explained with a minimum use of mathematical formulae; graphical illustrations are used in their place to aid understanding. The effective synthesis of existing literature as well as in-depth and up-to-date coverage of all key topics in bioinformatics make this an ideal textbook for all bioinformatics courses taken by life science students and for researchers wishing to develop their knowledge of bioinformatics to facilitate their own research.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"particularly suitable for undergraduate teaching."
Society for General Microbiology

Book Description

This clear and concise introduction to bioinformatics will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students in the life sciences, as well as researchers wishing to develop their knowledge of bioinformatics tools. All key areas are covered including biological databases, sequence alignment, genes and promoter prediction, molecular phylogenetics, structural bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (March 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521600820
• ISBN-13: 978-0521600828
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #772,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Bioinformatics for Life Scientists., August 19, 2006

By 

Mary K. Ritke "biomaniac" (Dunreith IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Bioinformatics (Paperback)

This compact, economical book (at least for bioinformatics) covers the usual basics of bioinformatics (Databases, alignments, phylogeny, gene prediction, structure prediction, transcriptome analysis, proteome analysis) but is unique in its approach. Recognizing most life scientists need to understand basic bioinformatis, but lack extensive mathematical modeling, computer command line or programming experience Jin Xiong has written a text that describes common bioinformatics tools to perform each of the above studies. Using diagrams and figures in lieu of complex mathematical formulas, Xiong explains how the tools work. Each task in bioinformatics has many comoputing tools - the strengths and weaknesses of each, and guidance in critical evaluation of the output are explained. There are capstone problems at the end of the book that are extremely helpful in enhancing understanding of the tools. The text is easy to read.

In the preface. Xiong describes that the book is a compilation of notes from several years of teaching bioinformatics. Therefore they presumably have been revised based on student review. However, this is a first edition - there are a lot of typos, misspellings, and some figures have errors. Hopefully these will be fixed for this is a fine introductory book.

The text is for those new to bioinformatics. Unlike many bioinformatics books, there is no coverage of programming (PERL or SQL for ex,). Therefore, those who are already skilled in this area will likely not find this particularly useful. Familiarity with the UNIX operating system will help readers do the problems.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Introductory Book for the Student or Researcher, April 16, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Bioinformatics (Paperback)

The author gives a pretty good summary of this book in the preface: 'I needed a text that was comprehensive enough to cover all major aspects in the field [bioinformatics], technical enough for a college level course, and sufficiently up to date to include most current algorithms while at the same time being logical and easy to understand... The book is aimed at graduate and undergraduate students in biology, or any practicing molecular biologise, who has no background in computer algorithms but wishes to understand the fundamental principles of bioinformatics and use this knowledge to tackle his or her own research problems.'

The book was developed over several years, first being issued in the form of Xerox'd lecture notes to test the acceptability by students. Subsequently the notes were revised, expanded and now assembled into book form.

There are now a large number of standard software packages designed for use in the bioinformatics area. Many of these are discussed. However, it is not intended for this book to be a manual on these packages. Instead it discusses the software from a standpoint of when and where specific packages can be used to solve your problem of the moment.

As a field, bioinformatics is expanding and developing at an extremely rapid rate. This book is up to date as of early 2006.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for beginners, January 6, 2007

By 

Mohammad Obaidat "Amirob" (GA,USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Bioinformatics (Paperback)

The book is written in an easy and concise way. It is a very useful book for beginners. If the reader knows the basics, he needs a more advanced book.