Cytometry is characterization and measurement of cells and cellular constituents, most often used to immunophenotype cells - that is, to distinguish healthy cells from diseased cells. Flow Cytometry specifically is quite sensitive, allowing researchers to detect rare cell types and residual levels of disease, and as such has been the method of choice for important studies such as monitoring the blood of AIDS patients. For this reason, there is a great need for a practical, comprehensive ma...

Why do living things and physical phenomena take the form they do? D'Arcy Thompson's classic On Growth and Form looks at the way things grow and the shapes they take. Analysing biological processes in their mathematical and physical aspects, this historic work, first published in 1917, has also become renowned for the sheer poetry of its descriptions. A great scientist sensitive to the fascinations and beauty of the natural world tells of jumping fleas and slipper limpets; of buds and seed...

This is the fourth edition of the successful laboratory guide which has translated the rich story of riboneucleic acid for over fifteen years. RNA Methodologies 4e presents the latest collection of tested laboratory protocols for the isolation and characterization of eukaryotic and prokaryotic RNA with greater emphasis on transcript profiling, including quantification issues and elucidation of alternative transcription start sites. Collectively the chapters work together providing analysis...

Blood vessels of tumors display many structural and functional abnormalities. Their unusual leakiness, potential for rapid growth and remodeling, and expression of distinctive surface molecules mediate the dissemination of tumor cells in the bloodstream and maintain the tumor microenvironment. Like normal blood vessels, they consist of endothelial cells, mural cells and their enveloping basement membrane. Common features, irrespective of their origin, size and growth pattern, are absent hi...

The strongest point of this book titled “Biochemistry of Oxidative Stress: Physiopathology and Clinical Aspects”, is that the academic and scientific background of the authors/editors guarantee the authorship of a book comprising all aspects of oxidative stress, ranging from very molecular aspects, to clinical application, including the antioxidant therapy. Of particular importance is the fact that the aforementioned aspects are described in the book in a general section and in three diffe...

Platelets are fragments of blood cells that occur in the blood of vertebrates and are associated with blood clotting. Scientists have made great strides in recent years in understanding what stimulates platelets to form blood clots at the molecular level and in developing drugs to inhibit platelet action. Their work has a direct effect on millions of people who deal with cardiovascular disease, strokes, surgery, physical trauma, and other conditions. While references to platelet function h...

Motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment are major symptoms in both Huntington’s Disease (HD) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). A breakthrough in HD research was the identification of the gene that causes this devastating monogenetic illness. Similarly, several genes were found to cause familial forms of PD. With their identification, a plethora of genetic animal models has been generated and has revolutionized the understanding of the pathobiology and pathophysiology of these disorders. The...

Heavy metal accumulation in soil and water from natural sources or anthropogenic activities have produced severe environmental contamination in some parts of the world due to the persistence of metals in the environment by their accumulation throughout the food chain. The purpose of this book is to present the most recent advances in this field, mainly concerning the uptake and translocation of heavy metals in plants, mechanisms of toxicity, perception of metal and regulation of cell respo...

Communication is defined as an interaction between at least two living agents which share a repertoire of signs. These are combined according to syntactic, semantic and context-dependent, pragmatic rules in order to coordinate behavior. This volume deals with the important roles of soil bacteria in parasitic and symbiotic interactions with viruses, plants, animals and fungi. Starting with a general overview of the key levels of communication between bacteria, further reviews examine the va...

Transcription factors are the molecules that the cell uses to interpret the genome: they possess sequence-specific DNA-binding activity, and either directly or indirectly influence the transcription of genes. In aggregate, transcription factors control gene expression and genome organization, and play a pivotal role in many aspects of physiology and evolution.This book provides a reference for major aspects of transcription factor function, encompassing a general catalogue of known...

This volume explores questions about conceptual change from both scientific and philosophical viewpoints by analyzing the recent history of evolutionary developmental biology. It features revised papers that originated from the workshop "Conceptual Change in Biological Science: Evolutionary Developmental Biology, 1981-2011" held at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin in July 2010. The Preface has been written by Ron Amundson.In these papers, philosophers a...