Crystals and Life: A Personal Journey

Book Description

The book introduces crystallography and the field and applications of structural biology using metaphors from the arts, music, poetry, and architecture. The reader will find a tapestry filled by personal experiences, historical anecdotes, bibliographical snapshots of scientific heroes of the field, and crystallographic concepts illustrated with artistic analogies. All these elements create a concoction that makes crystallography accessible, comprehensible, intriguing, inspiring, and beautiful. The book is divided in sections covering: the basic elements of crystallography, novel technologies, practical applications, and future perspectives. Since crystallography is quintessentially a visual science, the illustrations play a very important role in providing an excellent set of landmarks to guide the reader on this personal journey of discovery.

Customer Reviews:

Crystallographic literacy from a literate crystallographer.......2004-09-23

Modern structural biology adds a third dimension to biochemistry. Rather than puzzling over bands on a gel or struggling to decode the linear sequence of a protein or nucleic acid, the modern structural biologist sits at the computer and glides virtually through landscapes of titanic molecules to examine active sites, ligand binding pockets, hydrogen bonding, or some other aspect of molecular nature. The one technology that has, more than any other, made this expansion of perception possible is X-ray crystallography. The methods that were once the province of mineralogists studying exquisite but decidedly non-living crystals have given us new eyes into the workings of life.

But, how is it done? The arcana of crystallography is daunting as can be seen from any textbook on the subject. Is the intelligent layperson to be left with no hope for that elusive quality, scientific literacy, in crystallography without painfully slogging through chapters of dry equations and prose? My advice to anyone seeking scientific literacy is to seek out the literate scientist. For crystallography that scientist is Celerino Abad-Zapatero who has written an introduction to crystallography entitled "Crystals and Life: A Personal Journey". The title is an appropriate word play on the title of a classic in the field, "Crystals and Light" by Elizabeth Wood who was an early popularizer of science with her book, "Science from your airplane window."

For the reader more accustomed to dispassionate technical prose, the informal character of the book is pleasantly surprising. This book is more like sitting down after dinner with the scientist than like sitting in a lecture hall. The chapters are individual essays grouped into subject categories and arranged in logical order. Early chapters provide an intuitive understanding of the basics of crystallographic technique in the author's informal style along with a rich variety of historical vignettes and personal insights. For instance, the technical issue of analysis of waves is presented in analogy to listening to an orchestra in a concert hall along with some information on the life of Fourier. Middle chapters are concerned with such things as the history and importance of the Protein Data Bank or the structure of silk. The later essays focus on the future of crystallography with, for example, a philosophical discussion of the revolutionary nature of the field. There is also an intriguing essay on the thermodynamics of living systems in which the author proposes that life exists in an additional state of matter, the "living state", and ends quoting a poem illustrating how the interplay between static and dynamic forces can produce poetry.

This is not a handbook or practical introduction to crystallography but, for crystallographers the book will be enjoyable for its many insights from an experienced practitioner and its affirmations of the beauty of crystals and crystal structures. It will perhaps be most useful for providing an accurate notion of what crystallographers do and what they are all about to those who may never have the pleasure of refining a protein structure.

science and culture.......2003-02-19

This delightful book, in the best tradition of science for the educated layman and humanities for the scientist, brings the world of crystals alive. It resonates! The author's amiable style and broad knowledge as a protein crystallographer and lover of culture combine to give great pleasure to the reader. Present at the creation (he was part of the Purdue team that solved one of the first virus crystal structures) Dr. Abad leads us deeper into the magic world of crystals through these intriguing essays which explore crystallography through the music of Segovia, the designs of the Alhambra, the work of M. C. Escher, the development of x-rays, how we "hear" a symphony or experience Chillida's "Combs of the Wind," "The Ring of the Nibelung," Tolkien's Frodo and more.

science and culture.......2003-02-19

Book Description

Phage-display technology has begun to make critical contributions to the study of molecular recognition. DNA sequences are cloned into phage, which then present on their surface the proteins encoded by the DNA. Individual phage are rescued through interaction of the displayed protein with a ligand, and the specific phage is amplified by infection of bacteria.

Phage-display technology is powerful but challenging and the aim of this manual is to provide comprehensive instruction in its theoretical and applied so that any scientist with even modest molecular biology experience can effectively employ it. The manual reflects nearly a decade of experience with students of greatly varying technical expertise and experience who attended a course on the technology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Phage-display technology is growing in importance and power. This manual is an unrivalled source of expertise in its execution and application.

Customer Reviews:

Phage Display: A Laboratory Manual.......2001-03-14

This is an excellent guide for anyone who is interested in the construction and manipulation of phage display libraries. There is a plethora of background information and current techniques that is useful for anyone interested in this technology.

E. coli: Shiga Toxin Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

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E. coli: Shiga Toxin Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

Manufacturer: Humana Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Escherichia coli and Other Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli

ASIN: 0896039390

Book Description

A multidisciplinary panel of leading experimentalists details the key protocols for the diagnosis and study of the pathogenesis of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and its isolated cytotoxin (Stx). Described in step-by-step detail, these readily reproducible techniques range from those for the diagnosis and detection of STEC bacteria in patient and animal samples, to those for studying the cellular microbiology of STEC infections, especially host-pathogen interactions and the hemolysin of STEC. There are also protocols for studying the details of Shiga toxin (Stx) biology-from the purification of the toxin to the effects of Stx on various host cell functions-and for exploring STEC-mediated disease in various animal models.

Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory: A Quantitative Approach

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Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory: A Quantitative Approach

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes

ASIN: 0195113136

Book Description

Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory illustrates the major features of growth and metabolism discussed in David White's The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes (OUP, 1995). It serves as an ideal adjunct to this text and can also be used in conjunction with other books for the laboratory component of a microbial physiology course. All of the experiments described in this manual have been taught as part of a laboratory course for junior and senior biology and microbiology majors at Indiana University. In addition to reinforcing what students learn in lecture, the experiments guide students through a wide spectrum of analytical techniques including enzyme assays, macromolecular assays, column chromatography, gel electrophoresis, and gas chromatography. Along with enzyme assays and enzyme purification, students do experiments measuring oxygen uptake, chemotaxis, fermentation, and bacterial luminescence. The organisms studied include Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Proteus, Rhodospirillum, Photobacterium, and Saccharomyces. The volume is enhanced by appendices which include sections on quantitative problems and their solutions, instructions on how to write a laboratory report, and independent projects that are extensions of the class experiments. The number of experiments exceeds the amount of material usually offered in one semester, giving instructors the option to choose those experiments that are most appropriate for their classes.

Biology of Microorganisms Laboratory Manual

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Biology of Microorganisms Laboratory Manual
Paulette W. Royt , and George Andrykovitch
Manufacturer: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

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ASIN: 0787291234

Epstein-Barr Virus Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology)

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Epstein-Barr Virus Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology)

Manufacturer: Humana Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Immunology | Basic Science | Medicine | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0896036901

Book Description

Joanna Wilson and Gerhard May have assembled a collection of the key molecular biology protocols used in the analysis of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), along with a series of valuable immunology, cell biology, and transgenic mouse protocols. These readily reproducible techniques include methods for gene expression with mini-EBV plasmids, for expression analysis by FISH, for EBV detection and quantitation, and for cell proliferation and death assays. In addition, there are EBV-based vectors, an up-to-date map of EBV, a comprehensive table of available latent protein antisera, and assays from in vitro to cell to organ to organism levels. Timely and highly practical, Epstein-Barr Virus Protocols provides powerful tools for elucidating the life cycle of EBV and its host interactions, work that promises the emergence of major new treatments and cures for EBV associated diseases, including several forms of human cancer.

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Handling Laboratory Microorganisms
Charles Penn
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Hemophilus Influenzae Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

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Hemophilus Influenzae Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

Manufacturer: Humana Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Research | Education | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0896039285

Book Description

In HaemophilusiInfluenzae Protocols, leading research scientists and infectious disease specialists detail in a readily reproducible format the major molecular and immunological techniques for exploring the pathogenicity of H. influenzae. Described with step-by-instructions to ensure robust and successful experimental results, the techniques cover plasmid analysis, proteomics, genomics, DNA array technology, gene expression, mutagenesis (transposon and nontransposon), and structural analysis. These methods illuminate how the bacterium causes disease, as well as how best to develop novel vaccines and antibiotics against the organism.

Laboratory manual: Biology of microorganisms

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Laboratory manual: Biology of microorganisms
Jane Ann Phillips
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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Maintenance of Microorganisms and Cultured Cells: A Manual of Laboratory Methods

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Maintenance of Microorganisms and Cultured Cells: A Manual of Laboratory Methods
B. E. Kirsop
Manufacturer: Academic Press
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Meningococcal Disease (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

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Meningococcal Disease (Methods in Molecular Medicine)

Manufacturer: Humana Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0896038491

Book Description

Andrew Pollard and Martin Maiden bring together a panel of leading authorities to produce a comprehensive, interdisciplinary survey of recent advances and knowledge about meneigococcal disease. The review and methods-based chapters collected here provide essential information for diagnosis in the clinical microbiology laboratory, isolate characterization, clinical management, and control of meningococcal disease. They also examine the immunopathological mechanisms occurring in the acutely ill, host-pathogen interactions, and the possible components of meningococcus responsible for virulence. Meningococcal Disease: Methods and Protocols integrates the basic science, clinical, and epidemiological aspects of this terrible infectious disease to promote the deeper understanding needed to identify novel targets for therapeutic interventions and vaccines.

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A challenging but rewarding book

Serendipity

Beautiful, Engaging and Funny

Great expectations of readers

Essentially a book of short stories

Cloud Atlas: A Novel
David Mitchell
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Line of Beauty

ASIN: 0375507256
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Book Description

From David Mitchell, the Booker Prize nominee, award-winning writer and one of the featured authors in Granta’s “Best of Young British Novelists 2003” issue, comes his highly anticipated third novel, a work of mind-bending imagination and scope.

A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation -- the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

In his captivating third novel, David Mitchell erases the boundaries of language, genre and time to offer a meditation on humanity’s dangerous will to power, and where it may lead us.

Customer Reviews:

A challenging but rewarding book.......2007-08-26

Truly original works of fiction are hard to find these days. David Mitchell has given us such a work. Most of what's out there is like candy, fun to take in and soon forgotten. Mitchell doesn't take such a low view of the reader. This is an extremely challenging work which will reward the reader willing to open his mind and take in the story on a deeper level than what's on the surface.

The book is structured like a Russian nesting doll. Each story is somehow interrelated with the story after it. There are six stories total here. Mitchell ends stories one through five abruptly, and then tells all of story six, and tells the ends of the rest of the stories five to one. It's a very unique structure, and it says something about Mitchell's abilities that he's able to make it work.

Each story is also totally different in terms of style. We begin with a Melvillean tale of the sea, proceed to an English rogue's story, then a hardboiled 70s pulp mystery, then the story of a contemporary degenerate English book publisher, forwarded to a dystopian scifi tale set in the near future, and finally a halting, odd narrative of a man living in a post apocalyptic Hawaii. Each story has a distinct narrative style and has little in common with the preceding story, save the link.

This book gets the reader thinking about many themes. The main theme is breaking free of the shackles life puts on us. Each narrator is somehow constrained, either by society or the government. It also explores the effect rules for the society have on the individual. There are a few other minor themes, but you really should read the book to find out what they are.

My only quibble with this was the sixth story. The narration was so stilted and disjointed that I found it tough to finish it. I ultimately did not, because it was so tough to get through. This is my own failing, and I will have to read it at some point in the near future. It's one of the many challenges Mitchell puts to the reader.

This is a masterful work, which is sure to reveal new truths with each reading.

Serendipity.......2007-08-02

My chief complaint with this book is the title. I was actually looking for "The Cloud Atlas" by Liam Callanan when I picked up this instead in the library, realized my mistake and read it anyway. What a knockout!

As other reviewers here say, the book features quite a welter of plot threads that take some time to weave into the fabric of a good story, but it's well worth the slight wait (my guess is you'll be hooked by the first page of chapter 3).

Yes, Mitchell does flex and flourish his dialects, but not to the point of distraction. And, yes, the book ends on a sci-fi note, but I wouldn't cast it as science fiction alone. It simply deals with human relationships that bridge time and anonymity...including the past and well into a speculative future. I found myself feeling more connected to humanity; not only to today's living cohort but also to yesterday's and tomorrow's. Now that's a trick.

Beautiful, Engaging and Funny.......2007-07-27

The author, at a reading in Philadelphia, admits to liking the structure
of this book because it makes it easier to serialize for magazine sales.
Good for him! Dickens wrote with that in mind and Mitchell is at least
as clever and a much better stylist to boot.
All the stories here-six tales, each with their own reprise-involve
improbable struggles against slightly mad circumstances. The comparison
to Murakami is unavoidable, but Mitchell is more concrete, less ethereal
and possessed of a certain sardonic wit that makes him unique.
Reading this book is not always easy, but the prose is seductive and
the stories will stay in your imagination.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the novel bang BANG. ISBN 9781601640005

Great expectations of readers.......2007-07-23

Even after finishing the book I have a hard time telling friends what it's about. Too many details spoil the plot - suffice to say the individual six tales are subtly connected, though inherently separate, both in voice and substance. Perhaps the underlying message is that on one level or another, we are connected to the past and future of humanity.

The book demands a lot of its reader: we are asked to step inside the lives of very different personalities, via extremely different styles of writing. If you didn't like reading classic lit in school, or can't buy into sci-fi, you may have a problem with the overall story. It bothered me (in a good way) to be torn away from a character I'd just come to love, only to have to start over again with a new tale. Thankfully all stories are excellently told, and indirectly connected by the end (if you've read Stephen King's Dark Tower series and recognized the referrences to his other stories, then you get a rough idea of how these six tales are intertwined).
I particularly enjoyed the social commentary on a wide scale of subjects (from old age to potential downsides to consumer greed). My only criticism is that I would have loved to learn even more about some characters' fates. But perhaps that is the book's very charm, that it leaves you wanting more. It's definitely turned me on to Mitchell's other work.

Essentially a book of short stories.......2007-07-10

While I get that the 6 stories were supposed to be related, I found all the reincarnation babble incredibly cheesy compared to the rest of the writing, and found it tedious to have to stop the middle of one story, start another, then continue it much later and forget who was supposed to be who. I obligingly read the book in order though, expecting a payoff, but found not much reason for this style other than the reincarnation cutesiness. However, a couple of the stories were extremely well-written and enjoyable, the first one about Adam Ewing being the least so (what was that?? So boring compared to the rest of the book, I can't figure out why he would choose to begin and end his book with that). The centerpiece story, the one that is uninterrupted, is absolutely my favorite, it brought me near tears several times. I would read this book again, but I would just read each story uninterrupted and skip the first one.

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