Genetic vectors are plasmids, bacteriophages, or viruses used during recombinant DNA techniques that transport foreign genes into recipient cells. Genetic vectors possess a functional replicator site and contain a genetic marker to facilitate their selective recognition. This book presents new and important research from around the globe
This volume aims to provide a timely view of the state-of-the-art in systems biology. The editors take the opportunity to define systems biology as they and the contributing authors see it, and this will lay the groundwork for future studies. The volume is well-suited to both students and researchers interested in the methods of systems biology. Although the focus is on plant systems biology, the proposed material could be suitably applied to any organism.
Evidence suggests that medical innovation is becoming increasingly dependent on interdisciplinary research and on the crossing of institutional boundaries. This volume focuses on the conditions governing the supply of new medical technologies and suggest that the boundaries between disciplines, institutions, and the private and public sectors have been redrawn and reshaped. Individual essays explore the nature, organization, and management of interdisciplinary R&D in medicine; the introduction into clinical practice of the laser, endoscopic innovations, cochlear implantation, cardiovascular imaging technologies, and synthetic insulin; the division of innovating labor in biotechnology; the government- industry-university interface; perspectives on industrial R&D management; and the growing intertwining of the public and proprietary in medical technology.
"The book...is, in fact, a short text on the many practical problems...associated with translating the explosion in basic biotechnological research into the next Green Revolution," explains Economic Botany. The book is "a concise and accurate narrative, that also manages to be interesting and personal...a splendid little book." Biotechnology states, "Because of the clarity with which it is written, this thin volume makes a major contribution to improving public understanding of genetic engineering's potential for enlarging the world's food supply...and can be profitably read by practically anyone interested in application of molecular biology to improvement of productivity in agriculture."
Adenoviral Vectors for Gene Therapy, Second Edition provides detailed, comprehensive coverage of the gene delivery vehicles that are based on the adenovirus that is emerging as an important tool in gene therapy. These exciting new therapeutic agents have great potential for the treatment of disease, making gene therapy a fast-growing field for research. This book presents topics ranging from the basic biology of adenoviruses, through the construction and purification of adenoviral vectors, cutting-edge vectorology, and the use of adenoviral vectors in preclinical animal models, with final consideration of the regulatory issues surrounding human clinical gene therapy trials. This broad scope of information provides a solid overview of the field, allowing the reader to gain a complete understanding of the development and use of adenoviral vectors. - Provides complete coverage of the basic biology of adenoviruses, as well as their construction, propagation, and purification of adenoviral vectors - Introduces common strategies for the development of adenoviral vectors, along with cutting-edge methods for their improvement - Demonstrates noninvasive imaging of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer - Discusses utility of adenoviral vectors in animal disease models - Considers Federal Drug Administration regulations for human clinical trials
Gene transfer research is a rapidly advancing field that involves the introduction of a genetic sequence into a human subject for research or diagnostic purposes. Clinical gene transfer trials are subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the federal level and to oversight by institutional review boards (IRBs) and institutional biosafety committees (IBCs) at the local level before human subjects can be enrolled. In addition, at present all researchers and institutions funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are required by NIH guidelines to submit human gene transfer protocols for advisory review by the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC). Some protocols are then selected for individual review and public discussion. Oversight and Review of Clinical Gene Transfer Protocols provides an assessment of the state of existing gene transfer science and the current regulatory and policy context under which research is investigated. This report assesses whether the current oversight of individual gene transfer protocols by the RAC continues to be necessary and offers recommendations concerning the criteria the NIH should employ to determine whether individual protocols should receive public review. The focus of this report is on the standards the RAC and NIH should use in exercising its oversight function. Oversight and Review of Clinical Gene Transfer Protocols will assist not only the RAC, but also research institutions and the general public with respect to utilizing and improving existing oversight processes.
Authored by an integrated committee of plant and animal scientists, this review of newer molecular genetic techniques and traditional research methods is presented as a compilation of high-reward opportunities for agricultural research. Directed to the Agricultural Research Service and the agricultural research community at large, the volume discusses biosciences research in genetic engineering, animal science, plant science, and plant diseases and insect pests. An optimal climate for productive research is discussed.
Research on gene drive systems is rapidly advancing. Many proposed applications of gene drive research aim to solve environmental and public health challenges, including the reduction of poverty and the burden of vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue, which disproportionately impact low and middle income countries. However, due to their intrinsic qualities of rapid spread and irreversibility, gene drive systems raise many questions with respect to their safety relative to public and environmental health. Because gene drive systems are designed to alter the environments we share in ways that will be hard to anticipate and impossible to completely roll back, questions about the ethics surrounding use of this research are complex and will require very careful exploration. Gene Drives on the Horizon outlines the state of knowledge relative to the science, ethics, public engagement, and risk assessment as they pertain to research directions of gene drive systems and governance of the research process. This report offers principles for responsible practices of gene drive research and related applications for use by investigators, their institutions, the research funders, and regulators.
Genes, which are carried on chromosomes, are the basic physical and functional units of heredity. Genes are specific sequences of bases that encode instructions on how to make proteins. Although genes get a lot of attention, it's the proteins that perform most life functions and even make up the majority of cellular structures. When genes are altered so that the encoded proteins are unable to carry out their normal functions, genetic disorders can result. Gene therapy is an experimental treatment that involves introducing genetic material into a person's cells to fight disease. Gene therapy is being studied in clinical trials for many different types of cancer and for numerous other diseases. The volume presents significant new research results in this promising field.
Antisense molecules interact with complementary strands of nucleic acids, modifying expression of genes. Some regions within a double strand of DNA code for genes, which are usually instructions specifying the order of amino acids in a protein along with regulatory sequences, splicing sites, non-coding introns and other complicating details. For a cell to use this information, one strand of the DNA serves as a template for the synthesis of a complementary strand of RNA. The template DNA strand is called the transcribed strand with antisense sequence and the mRNA transcript is said to be sense sequence (the complement of antisense). Because the DNA is double-stranded, the strand complementary to the antisense sequence is called non-transcribed strand and has the same sense sequence as the mRNA transcript (though T bases in DNA are substituted with U bases in RNA). This book presents important new research from around the world in this field.