Customer Reviews

Protein Purification: Principles and Practice

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In the first chapter of Protein Purification, Scopes notes that more and more biochemical techniques are black boxed, with kits eliminating the need for an understanding of biochemical principles (e.g., "precipitate with Acme Solution B, pour off Solution B, and redissolve precipitant in Solution C"). Scopes notes that with a proper understanding of biochemistry, one can save money on kits and do more purification steps with standard lab materials and reagents. He wrote this book to help biochemistry labs make more informed decisions on protein purification rather than just defaulting on some already familiar kit or protocol.

Scopes succeeded in this purpose with flying colors: he hit a rare balance that makes this book fun to read. Each chapter is well-laid out, concetrating on a single separation technique's general practice and the theoretical foundations for that method. The basic ideas and materials are laid out, with clear, well-picked illustrations.

I was particularly happy with the mathematical treament Scopes gives: understanding the thermodynamics or physics of a process aids your intuitive understanding and makes your troubleshooting skills much more honed.

Scientists and educators alike will benefit from Robert K. Scopes thorough and up-to-date examination of the techniques behind the science of protein purification. Written with enough simplicity and easy reading for the upper-level undergraduate student, but with all the facts and formulas for hard-core theorists, Protein Purification may well be the most concise and easy to read book of its kind on the textbook market. A must read for those interested in any form of protein science, anyone from the industrial biochemist to the graduate student will benefit from Robert's full description of the most current procedures for separating proteins by size, charge, or physical characteristics. An in-depth discussion of procedures used from the beginning of scientists' knowledge of the individual characteristics of protein charge and size to the most current procedures involving dye ligand chromatography will ensure an overall knowledge of the field. Robert's belief that a ninety percent separation of protein is the minimun standard for any reliable purification procedure is augmented by his insistence that most science can be done well while watching a budget. Definitely a textbook for the educator who has less money on hand than the typical research scientist, I highly recommend this book for undergraduate and graduate level biochemistry courses, as its cost is much less than that generally charged for most college texts.

I am a graduate student that was given the task to purify a protein of interest. We have been trying to purify this protein for a while however since we are using recombinant technology in E. coli it's being expressed as an inclusion body. I received the second edition which was published in the late eighties before recombinant expression was widely used so it's a topic that isn't really touched in the text (although the author anticipated its wide usage in the future).

This book does have a great deal of information on the basic protocol of protein purification as well as some handy tips to use in the event that your protein is insoluble or not easily purified. I do recommend this book for people who are just starting to tackle protein purification. It is well written and the author clearly knows what he is talking about. However if you are using this to optimize purification of recombinant proteins I would recommend looking for a newer book (and if you find a better one comment back!)

Working on various biochemical techniques but I have not used them for a while. This is a great refresher and intro for beginners.

I find this book, protein purification: principles and practice, is one of the best sources to understand the bases of protein purification techniques. The book describes the mechanisms, chemistry bases, and practical considerations of different protein purification methods. Moreover, the book is written easily for scientists/technicians with background ranging from weak to excellent in biochemistry. If you were new to the field of protein purification, this book will help you to build skills in a very short time since it fills the missing gapes in almost famous protocols by providing very easy background information about each purification procedure. I highly recommend to have it on your book shelf.