Introduction to Biotechnology (3rd Edition)

Book Preface

It is hard to imagine a more exciting time to be studying biotechnology. Advances are occurring at a dizzying pace, and biotechnology has made an impact on many aspects of our everyday lives. Now in its third edition, Introduction to Biotechnology remains the first biotechnology textbook written specifically for the diverse backgrounds of undergraduate students.

Appropriate for students at both 2- and 4-year and vocational technical schools, Introduction to Biotechnology
provides students with the tools for practical success in the biotechnology industry through its balanced coverage of molecular biology, details on contemporary techniques and applications, integration of ethical issues, and career guidance. Introduction to Biotechnology was designed with several major goals in mind. The text aims to provide:

â–  An engaging and easy-to-understand narrative that is appropriate for a diverse student audience with varying levels of scientific knowledge.
â–  Assistance to instructors teaching all major areas of biotechnology and help to students learning fundamental scientific concepts without overwhelming and excessive detail.
â–  An overview of historic applications while emphasizing modern, cutting-edge, and emerging areas of biotechnology.
â–  Insights on how biotechnology applications can provide some of the tools to solve important scientific and societal problems for the benefit of humankind and the environment.
â–  Inspiration for students to ponder the many ethical issues associated with biotechnology.

Introduction to Biotechnology provides broad coverage of topics including molecular biology, bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics. We have striven to incorporate balanced coverage of basic molecular biology with practical and contemporary applications of biotechnology to provide students with the tools and knowledge they need to understand the field. In our effort to introduce students to the cuttingedge techniques and applications of biotechnology, we have dedicated specific chapters to such emerging areas as agricultural biotechnology (Chapter 6), forensic biotechnology (Chapter 8), bioremediation (Chapter 9), and aquatic biotechnology (Chapter 10). Consideration of the many regulatory agencies and issues that affect the biotechnology industry are discussed in Chapter 12. In addition to the ethical issues included in each chapter as You Decide boxes, a separate chapter (Chapter 13) is dedicated to ethics and biotechnology.

New Features of the Third Edition

The third edition of Introduction to Biotechnology includes several new instructor resources and exciting features:
â–  Forecasting the Future briefly highlights exciting new areas of biotechnology that the authors predict will be worth watching in the future.
â–  Making a Difference at the end of each chapter spotlights particularly beneficial aspects of biotechnology applications that have had major impacts in improving the quality of life.
â–  More end-of-chapter Questions & Activities, including more Internet-based exercises.
■ A computerized test bank with multiple-choice questions for each chapter; electronic files for all images in the textbook; and PowerPoint Lecture Outline slides conveniently located on the Instructor’s Resource Center, www.pearsonhighered .com/educator.
â–  New You Decide entries have been added to stimulate student interest in controversial areas of biotechnology.

In addition, each chapter has been thoroughly revised and updated to provide students with current information on emerging areas of biotechnology. Of special note are the following changes:

â–  Chapter 1: The Biotechnology Century and Its Workforce. Includes updated content on the current state of the biotechnology industry, company mergers, biotechnology and pharmaceutical company revenues, funding sources for starting a biotechnology company, and investigational new drugs.
■ Chapter 2: An Introduction to Genes and Genomes. Includes a new section titled “Revealing the Epigenome,” which provides an introduction to epigenetics and its importance to genetic diseases and disease treatments.
■ Chapter 3: Recombinant DNA Technology and Genomics. Includes updated content on the Human Genome Project, a new section called “10 Years after the Human Genome Project,” and new coverage of the Genome 10K Plan, Human Microbiome Project, and personalized genomics. Major content updates have been made to DNA sequencing technologies, including a new section and figure titled “Next-Generation Sequencing.”
â–  Chapter 4: Proteins as Products. Includes examples of delivery vehicles for proteins that overcome the difficulty of administering protein drugs; progress on designing protein structures based on the 1,200 superfamilies that have been discovered; the increased emphasis on discovery of biomarker proteins that can indicate disease at earlier stages; and the design of nanoparticles that deliver proteins designed to attach to sites on cancer cells to destroy them.
â–  Chapter 5: Microbial Biotechnology, includes new content on metagenomics, the Human Microbiome Project, a new section on synthetic genomes, and a new section on microbes for making biofuels.
â–  Chapter 6: Plant Biotechnology Includes the work of nonprofit research groups in developing new varieties of transgenic plants; the shift in emphasis to plant transgenic crops in developing countries, which are now the majority users; the addition of new transgenic crops and the expansion of others to include stacks of traits; new emphasis on different biofuels from plant wastes and algae; progress in biopharming, edible vaccines, and their importance; and current ways of dealing with resistant insects and weeds that have developed from the use of these crops.
â–  Chapter 7: Animal Biotechnology. Includes a shift in direction from drugs to vaccines for humans of all ages and the rationale behind it; the significance of animal testing for drugs toward treatments for animal diseases; the benefits of cellculture testing before animal testing for regulatory approval; the first approval of a drug produced in a transgenic goat to treat a type of stroke; new method for creating animals with gene knockouts and knock-ins; and the importance of a national project to determine the function of all the genes in a rat by using knockout technology.
â–  Chapter 8: DNA Fingerprinting and Forensic Analysis. Includes the progress in utilizing personal DNA sequencing as a precursor to diagnosis; the shift from RFLP to PCR fingerprinting and the reasoning behind it; new examples of DNA fingerprint comparisons using the CODIS sites; new examples of DNA sequences to identify certified products; and new examples of nonhuman DNA comparisons.
â–  Chapter 9: Bioremediation. Includes updated content of GM species for bioremediation and a new section highlighting the roles of bioremediation in cleanup at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
â–  Chapter 10: Aquatic Biotechnology. Includes revised content on aquaculture, bioprospecting, and biotechnology products from aquatic organisms.
â–  Chapter 11: Medical Biotechnology. Includes reorganized and revised content on the Human Genome Project and genetic testing along with a new section on direct-to-consumer genetic tests, updated content on gene therapy technologies, and new and updated content on induced-pluripotent stem cells and stem cell regulations.
■ Chapter 12: Biotechnology Regulations. Includes a discussion of the uses and dangers of synthetic genomes and potential regulations; the potential for faster drug approvals through the sharing of information on drug failures in trials; effect of FDA publication of long-term effects of previously approved drugs; the effect of the USPTO’s decision that gene sequences for diagnostic purposes are not patentable; new FDA policies designed to protect participants in drug trials; and the importance of current training of biotech company employees based on examples.
â–  Chapter 13: Ethics and Biotechnology. Includes reorganized content and an abbreviated chapter format, new information on risk assessments, and a new You Decide on field trials of GM insects.