Laboratory Protocols in Applied Life Sciences

Book Preface

Life sciences have been qualitative in nature, seeking to identify the mere presence of the molecules but seldom explain them quantitatively. Although the development of instrumentation techniques began as far back as the early part of the twentieth century, these technologies progressed at a slow pace, contributing only minimally to the field; it is only in the middle of the twentieth century that instrumentation began to make rapid strides, increasing its speed and accuracy. With the advent of molecular biology studies in biological sciences have become increasingly dependent on new and emerging techniques, essentially based on well-known principles of physical and chemical sciences. For a number of years, it has been difficult for the students of biology to grasp the basic principles of these potential emerging techniques, particularly owing to their mathematical bias and an absence of a comprehensive book dealing with all the integrated techniques used for the qualitative as well as quantitative analysis of living systems. Laboratory Protocols in Applied Life Sciences identifies several important technologies now used that are critical to fulfilling the potential of life sciences based on the use of increasingly sophisticated instrumentation. The book attempts to present a nonmathematical account of the underlying principles of a variety of experimental techniques, including electron microscopy, spectroscopy, ultracentrifugation, radiation biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, enzyme technology, separation technology, protein engineering, bioprocess engineering, environmental biology, etc., with the hope that it would be useful to all students of biology at graduate and postgraduate levels. This book is an endeavor toward that end. While standard laboratory books are available for such disciplines as genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, immunology, environmental biology, biochemical engineering, etc., students of interdisciplinary fields such as life sciences, pharmacy, medical and paramedical sciences, biotechnology, etc., find them too exhaustive and terse. Students of these fields require a single volume, integrating all branches with contents arranged and presented in a way comprehensible to them. The book deals with the principles, concepts, techniques, and applications used in life sciences in a very comprehensive and illustrative manner, which is particularly useful for all biology students.