The Janeway's Immunobiology CD-ROM, Immunobiology Interactive, is included with each book, and can be purchased separately. It contains animations and videos with voiceover narration, as well as the figures from the text for presentation purposes.
Somewhere I heard a story of a bridge and a painter. The bridge was enormous and was made all of metal, and the painter's job was to keep it from rusting. He would start at one end and slowly proceed, day by day, month by month, toward the other end, painting the bridge. But no sooner would he finish with the painting than the bridge would begin to rust again. The rust, too, would start at one end and slowly proceed toward the other end, systematically destroying the painter's endeavor. And so the painter would return to where he had started, and begin painting again, slowly proceeding toward the other end of the bridge, always just one step ahead of the rust. And if the story is true, the painter might still be painting that bridge-a modern Sisyphus! During the writing of this book, the story of the painter and his bridge kept coming to mind. The field the book covers has been developing so rapidly that, like the painter, I too had to return to where I had started and fight the rust of obsolescence. But unlike the painter, I had a deadline to meet, which constituted a point of no return. And so, sending off this manuscript, I have no choice but to watch the fruits of my endeavor be overtaken by the rust.
From molecules to populations and back In biology, the most vigorous organisms often ensue from a union of two disparate, pure lines. In science, too, laws of hybrid vigor seem to operate at the interface between two disciplines, an interface that often proves to be fertile ground for germinating concepts and new outlooks. The fringes of research into the major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) have provided such an interface several times in the past and the encounters have invigorated fields such as transplantation biology, cellular immunology, and immunogenetics. In the last few years, a new interface has been emerging between Mhc and evolutionary genetics, and particularly the branch of evolutionary genetics dealing with molecular evolution. Mhc research relies upon molecular evolutionary genetics, with its grand superstructure of mathematical formulations, to come to grips with the events leading to and maintaining the Mhc polymorphism. Without the armament of rigorous statistical procedures developed by evolutionary geneticists, the intricate relationships among Mhc genes cannot be resolved. It will undoubtedly be a molecular geneticist who is the final arbiter in the dispute concerning the nature of the selection pressure molding the Mhc genes. And it is doubtful whether the true function of Mhc can ever be comprehended without the vantage point afforded by the elucidation of its evolutionary history.
Immunogenetics is a 12-chapter book that begins with the elucidation of the major histocompatibility complex genes and their role in autoimmune and infectious diseases. Subsequent chapters explore the human major histocompatibility complex, including implications of their complement genes for linkage disequilibrium and disease associations. This book also describes the genetics of human immunoglobulins; T-cell clones; genes of the major histocompatibility complex of the mouse; and the generation, characterization, and use of monoclonal antibodies of murine and human origin. Specific diseases are also discussed; these include spondoarthritides, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, and autoimmune thyroid disease. This book will be of beneficial value to specialists in infectious diseases, endocrinology, connective tissue diseases, and neurology, as well as to medical scientists in immunology and molecular biology.
US-Japan meetings on laboratory animal science have been held virtually every year since 1980 under the US-Japan Cooperative Program on Science and Technology. Over the years these meetings have resulted in a number of important documents including the Manual of Microbiologic of Monitoring of Laboratory Animals published in 1994 and the article Establishment and Preservation of Reference Inbred Strains of Rats for General Purposes published in 1991. In addition to these publications, these meetings have been instrumental in increasing awareness of the need for microbiologic monitoring of laboratory rodents and the need for genetic definition and monitoring of mice and rats.
Mouse Genetics offers for the first time in a single comprehensive volume a practical guide to mouse breeding and genetics. Nearly all human genes are present in the mouse genome, making it an ideal organism for genetic analyses of both normal and abnormal aspects of human biology. Written as a convenient reference, this book provides a complete description of the laboratory mouse, the tools used in analysis, and procedures for carrying out genetic studies, along with background material and statistical information for use in ongoing data analysis. It thus serves two purposes, first to provide students with an introduction to the mouse as a model system for genetic analysis, and to give practicing scientists a detailed guide for performing breeding studies and interpreting experimental results. All topics are developed completely, with full explanations of critical concepts in genetics and molecular biology. As investigators around the world are rediscovering both the heuristic and practical value of the mouse genome, the demand for a succinct introduction to the subject has never been greater. Mouse Genetics is intended to meet the needs of this wide audience.