Customer Reviews

Introduction to Proteomics: Tools for the New Biology

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2 star:		(2)
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There really are lots of good facts in this book. Somehow, though, they never come together to form a coherent whole.

Most chapters read like essays, meant to stand on their own. That means that many chapters repeat introductory material already covered, and remake points already made. Yes, I appreciate that silver staining does not properly represent the whole range of protein expression levels. I do not appreciate the need to stat that three or four times.

Despite its "Introduction" title, the author seems to forget what a novice will need to learn. For example, there's a discussion of isoelectric focussing for protein separation. That includes mention of the technique's history, and why it used to have reproducibility problems. I never did see an exact description of what the techique actually is or how it works, though. Likewise, the author describes a number of important software packages used in proteomics. There are no screen shots, though, comparisons of capabilities, details of usage, or even references for letting me find out more on my own.

When I got to the the end of this book, I wanted to go back and review a few points. Because of the generally poor organization, it was always a struggle to figure out just which discussion covered the topics I wanted.

Other books cover almost all of this title's content, and do so more clearly. I suggest that the interested reader keep on looking.

This very readable book provides an excellent overview of proteomics. It gives a survey of techniques, comparing them and explaining why and when they are used. This is not the place to learn any method in detail. But it is the only book I have seen that you can read cover to cover in a few days and get the big picture of the field. Some caveats: each chapter has only 3 or 4 references, and the book focuses on methods connected to mass spectrometry. But if you want a quick and pleasant introduction to methods for purifying and identifying proteins, including discussions of ICAT, protein complexes and post-translation modifications, I highly recommend this book.

You don't have to get past the first page to understand that this is not the book for a beginner. No definitions, compound sentences... It reads the same way too many professors lecture these days: as though the student already knows the material. The former review is correct in that the book is a collection of essays and not an introductory text. However, if you are already an expert in proteomics you probably don't have the time or inclination to read a collection of essays... so who is this book for?