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The Bible's opening chapter includes these words:'So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.'We are created beings, with a unique status in creation. Nothing is more fundamental to Christian faith. Yet biologists present extensive data and provide a picture of how our species came to be, but there is no Creator in the intricate details of the painting they provide. If the scientific evidence for the evolution picture is reasonable--and, in general, it is--and if humans were indeed created from a common ancestor of the great apes, then what can be said about the Artist who Christians believe was at work? Vague answers are not satisfactory anymore--not in this scientific age. Recent mainstream data from paleoanthropology and genetics suggest that the basis of our species'success was not that they were superior fighters. Rather, the reason our ancestors thrived was likely their ability to function cooperatively in groups--to respect each other and to get along. This reframes the question about the nature of the hovering Spirit's activity in bringing our species into being. And that is the subject of this book.

This volume explores the complexity, diversity and interwoven nature of taxonomic pursuits within the context of explorations of humans and related species. It also pays tribute to Professor Colin Groves, whose work has had an enormous impact on this field. Recent research into that somewhat unique species we call humankind, through the theoretical and conceptual approaches afforded by the discipline of biological anthropology, is showcased. The focus is on the evolution of the human species, the behaviour of primates and other species, and how humans affect the distribution and abundance of other species through anthropogenic impact. Weaving together these three key themes, through the considerable influence of Colin Groves, provides glimpses of how changes in taxonomic theory and methodology, including our fluctuating understanding of speciation, have recrafted the way in which we view animal behaviour, human evolution and conservation studies.

Approaches in Integrative Bioinformatics provides a basic introduction to biological information systems, as well as guidance for the computational analysis of systems biology. This book also covers a range of issues and methods that reveal the multitude of omics data integration types and the relevance that integrative bioinformatics has today. Topics include biological data integration and manipulation, modeling and simulation of metabolic networks, transcriptomics and phenomics, and virtual cell approaches, as well as a number of applications of network biology. It helps to illustrate the value of integrative bioinformatics approaches to the life sciences. This book is intended for researchers and graduate students in the field of Bioinformatics. Professor Ming Chen is the Director of the Bioinformatics Laboratory at the College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Professor Ralf Hofestädt is the Chair of the Department of Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, Bielefeld University, Germany.

There has been rapid growth in biomedical engineering in recent decades, given advancements in medical imaging and physiological modelling and sensing systems, coupled with immense growth in computational and network technology, analytic approaches, visualization and virtual-reality, man-machine interaction and automation. Biomedical engineering involves applying engineering principles to the medical and biological sciences and it comprises several topics including biomedicine, medical imaging, physiological modelling and sensing, instrumentation, real-time systems, automation and control, signal processing, image reconstruction, processing and analysis, pattern recognition, and biomechanics. It holds great promise for the diagnosis and treatment of complex medical conditions, in particular, as we can now target direct clinical applications, research and development in biomedical engineering is helping us to develop innovative implants and prosthetics, create new medical imaging technologies and improve tools and techniques for the detection, prevention and treatment of diseases.The contributing authors in this edited book present representative surveys of advances in their respective fields, focusing in particular on techniques for the analysis of complex biomedical data. The book will be a useful reference for graduate students, researchers and industrial practitioners in computer science, biomedical engineering, and computational and molecular biology.

PART 1: GERMLINE TRANSFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 1 Transposons for Insect Transformation David A. O'Brochta, Kasim George and Hanfu Xu 2 Transposon-Based Technologies for Insects David A. O'Brochta, Kasim George and Hanfu Xu 3 Sex-, Tissue- and Stage-Specific Transgene Expression Andrew Marc Hammond and Tony Nolan 4 Docking Systems for Site-Directed Transgene Integration Paul Eggleston and Janet M. Meredith 5 Inducible and Repressible Systems for Transgene Expression Rosemary S. Lees, Rocco D'Amato and Mark Q. Benedict 6 Sex Ratio Manipulation for Insect Population Control Philippos A. Papathanos, Nikolai Windbichler and Omar S. Akbari 7 Conditional Dominant Lethals – RIDL Luke Alphey, Martha Koukidou and Neil I. Morrison PART 2: APPLICATIONS OF TRANSGENIC INSECTS 8 Tephritid Fruit Fly Transgenesis and Applications Alfred M. Handler and Marc F. Schetelig 9 Silkworm Transgenesis and Applications Hideki Sezutsu and Toshiki Tamura 10 Transgenic Approaches for Sterile Insect Control of Dipteran Livestock Pests and Lepidopteran Crop Pests Maxwell J. Scott, Neil I. Morrison and Gregory S. Simmons 11 Antipathogen Effector Molecules: Current and Future Strategies Michael A. Riehle and Shirley Luckhart 12 Sexual Sterilization of Mosquitoes Paolo Gabrieli, Eric Marois and Flaminia Catteruccia PART 3: ALTERNATIVE TRANSGENIC APPROACHES TO MODIFYING INSECT PHENOTYPES 13 Paratransgenesis in Mosquitoes and Other Insects: Microbial Ecology and Bacterial Genetic Considerations David J. Lampe and Nicholas J. Bongio 14 Asaia Paratransgenesis in Mosquitoes Guido Favia 15 Paratransgenic Control of Chagas Disease Ivy Hurwitz, Nicole Klein, Adam P. Forshaw and Ravi V. Durvasula 16 Tsetse Paratransgenesis: a Novel Strategy for Reducing the Spread of African Trypanosomiasis Brian L. Weiss and Serap Aksoy PART 4: CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE RELEASE OF TRANSGENIC INSECTS 17 RIDL: Modelling Release of Insects Carrying a Dominant Lethal Nina Alphey and Michael B. Bonsall 18 Assessing Risk of Transgenic Insects M.M. Quinlan 19 Economics of Transgenic Insects for Field Release John D. Mumford and L. Roman Carrasco 20 Risk Analysis and the Regulation of Transgenic Insects Camilla Beech and Tom Miller 21 Public Acceptability of New Insect Vector Control Technologies Katherine F. King, Pamela Kolopack, Lara Zahabi-Bekdash and James V. Lavery 22 The Cartagena Protocol on the Transboundary Movement of Living Modified Organisms: The Regulation of Trade in Transgenic Organisms under International and European Environmental Law Ricardo Pereira

The book aims to introduce the reader to the emerging field of Evolutionary Systems Biology, which approaches classical systems biology questions within an evolutionary framework. An evolutionary approach might allow understanding the significance of observed diversity, uncover “evolutionary design principles” and extend predictions made in model organisms to others. In addition, evolutionary systems biology can generate new insights into the adaptive landscape by combining molecular systems biology models and evolutionary simulations. This insight can enable the development of more detailed mechanistic evolutionary hypotheses.

The science of change from cells to cultureCells to Civilizations is the first unified account of how life transforms itself—from the production of bacteria to the emergence of complex civilizations. What are the connections between evolving microbes, an egg that develops into an infant, and a child who learns to walk and talk? Award-winning scientist Enrico Coen synthesizes the growth of living systems and creative processes, and he reveals that the four great life transformations—evolution, development, learning, and human culture—while typically understood separately, actually all revolve around shared core principles and manifest the same fundamental recipe. Coen blends provocative discussion, the latest scientific research, and colorful examples to demonstrate the links between these critical stages in the history of life.Coen tells a story rich with genes, embryos, neurons, and fascinating discoveries. He examines the development of the zebra, the adaptations of seaweed, the cave paintings of Lascaux, and the formulations of Alan Turing. He explores how dogs make predictions, how weeds tell the time of day, and how our brains distinguish a Modigliani from a Rembrandt. Locating commonalities in important findings, Coen gives readers a deeper understanding of key transformations and provides a bold portrait for how science both frames and is framed by human culture.A compelling investigation into the relationships between our biological past and cultural progress, Cells to Civilizations presents a remarkable story of living change.

In Gene Regulatory Sequences and Human Disease, the Editor will introduce the different technological advances that led to this breakthrough. In addition, several examples will be provided of nucleotide variants in noncoding sequences that have been shown to be associated with various human diseases.

Comparative genomics is a new and emerging?eld, and with the explosion of ava- able biological sequences the requests for faster, more ef?cient and more robust algorithms to analyze all this data are immense. This book is meant to serve as a self-contained instruction of the state-of-the-art of computational gene?nding in general and of comparative approaches in particular. It is meant as an overview of the various methods that have been applied in the?eld, and a quick introduction into how computational gene?nders are built in general. A beginner to the?eld could use this book as a guide through to the main points to think about when constructing a gene?nder, and the main algorithms that are in use. On the other hand, the more experienced gene?nder should be able to use this book as a reference to different methods and to the main components incorporated in these methods. I have focused on the main uses of the covered methods and avoided much of the technical details and general extensions of the models. In exchange I have tried to supply references to more detailed accounts of the different research areas touched upon. The book, however, makes no claim on being comprehensive.

The fungal kingdom consists of a wide variety of organisms with a diverse range of forms and functions. Fungi have been utilized for thousands of years and their importance in agriculture, medicine, food production and the environmental sciences is well known. New advances in genomic and metabolomic technologies have allowed further developments in the use of fungi in industry and medicine, increasing the need for a compilation of new applications, developments and technologies across the mycological field. Applied Mycology brings together a range of contributions, highlighting the diverse nature of current research. Chapters include discussions of fungal associations in the environment, agriculture and forestry, long established and novel applications of fungi in fermentation, the use of fungi in the pharmaceutical industry, the growing recognition of fungal infections, current interests in the use fungal enzymes in biotechnology and the new and emerging field of myconanotechnology. Demonstrating the broad coverage and importance of mycological research, this book will be of interest to researchers and students in all biological sciences.

Genomics research on animals has generated huge databases and several new concepts and strategies, which are used to elucidate origin, evolution and phylogeny of species. Genetic and physical maps of genomes give details on chromosomal location, function, expression and regulation of genes. The series Genome Mapping and Genomics in Animals provides comprehensive and up-to-date reviews on genomic research on selected animal systems contributed by leading scientists from around the world. This volume offers information on gene mapping and genomics research in domesticated and farmed animals including cattle, water buffalo, sheep, deer, poultry, turkeys, rabbits, dogs and pigs. While the genome maps for some species are very limited, full genome sequences are available for cattle, chickens and dogs. Genomic research contributes to the identification of genetic regions that control the functionality and well-being of animals. Several farmed species are also used as models for biomedical studies.

Bioinformatics is interpreted as the application of information science to biology, in which it plays a fundamental and all-pervasive role. The field continues to develop intensively in both academia and commercially, and is highly interdisciplinary. This broad-ranging and thoroughly updated second edition covers new findings while retaining the successful formula of the original text. Bioinformatics: An Introduction (2nd Edition) is structured into three parts devoted to Information, Biology, and Applications. Every section of the book has been completely revised for currency, and expanded where relevant, to take account of significant new discoveries and realizations of the importance of key concepts. Furthermore, two new chapters provide instruction about algorithms and knowledge representation. Emphases are placed on the underlying fundamentals and on acquisition of a broad and comprehensive grasp of the field as a whole. Features: • Provides a solid foundation in, and self-contained introduction to, the field of bioinformatics and its state-of-the-art as it relates to computational biology research • Offers additional chapters on algorithms and knowledge representation, including text mining [NEW] • Imparts a thorough grounding of core concepts, enabling the reader to understand contemporary work within an optimal context • Contains a greatly expanded chapter on interactions and regulatory networks [NEW] • Includes examples, definitions, problems and a comprehensive and useful bibliography • Presents new experimental methods, and serves as a springboard for new research [NEW] • Incorporates discussion of the method of drawing inferences from abstract sequence analysis based on frequency dictionaries • Contains an extensively revised chapter on medical applications[NEW] • Emphasizes the underlying fundamentals and acquisition of a broad and comprehensive grasp of the field as a whole This significantly improved second edition of a successful textbook is intended to be a complete study companion for the advanced undergraduate or graduate student. It is self-contained, bringing together the multiple disciplines necessary for a profound grasp of the field into a coherent whole, thereby allowing the reader to gain much insight into the state-of-the-art of bioinformatics.

This book takes the reader on a journey of discovery through the biological world. It covers many important aspects of this vast subject, ranging from the biological molecules so vital for life, to whole populations of organisms and how they interact with

As natural phenomena are being probed and mapped in ever-greater detail, scientists in genomics and proteomics are facing an exponentially growing vol­ ume of increasingly complex-structured data, information, and knowledge. Ex­ amples include data from microarray gene expression experiments, bead-based and microfluidic technologies, and advanced high-throughput mass spectrom­ etry. A fundamental challenge for life scientists is to explore, analyze, and interpret this information effectively and efficiently. To address this challenge, traditional statistical methods are being complemented by methods from data mining, machine learning and artificial intelligence, visualization techniques, and emerging technologies such as Web services and grid computing. There exists a broad consensus that sophisticated methods and tools from statistics and data mining are required to address the growing data analysis and interpretation needs in the life sciences. However, there is also a great deal of confusion about the arsenal of available techniques and how these should be used to solve concrete analysis problems. Partly this confusion is due to a lack of mutual understanding caused by the different concepts, languages, methodologies, and practices prevailing within the different disciplines.

There have been major developments in the field of plant-microbe interactions in recent years, due to newly developed techniques and the availability of genomic information. Molecular Plant-microbe Interactions explores these new discoveries, focusing primarily on the mechanisms controlling plant disease resistance, the cross-talk among the pathways involved and the strategies used by the pathogens to suppress these defences. By exploring developments in plant defences, pathogen's counter-defences and mutually beneficial plant-microbe interactions, this book will be useful for researchers and students in plant pathology and plant biology-related areas.

A shift in culture Only a decade ago, the?rst thing a molecular biologist would have had to learn when he or she started the lab work was how to handle pipettes, extract DNA, useenzymesandcloneagene. Now,the?rstthing thatheorsheshould learn is how to handle databases and to extract all the information that is already known about the gene that he or she wants to study. In all likelihood, he or she will?nd that the gene has already been sequenced from several organisms, that it was recovered in a variety of EST projects, that expression data are available from microarray and SAGE studies, that it was included in linkage studies, that proteomics data are rapidly accumulating, that lists of interacting proteins are being compiled, that domain structure data are available and that it is part of a network of genetic interactions which is intensively modelled. He or she will discover that all this information resides in many di?erent databases with di?erent data formats and with di?erent levels of analyses and linking. Starting to work on this gene will make sense only, if all this information is put together in a project-speci?c manner and set into the context of what is known about related genes and processes. At this point he or she may decide to walk up to the bioinformatics group in house and ask for help with arranging the data in a useful manner.

A self-taught scientist determined to bring science out of the laboratory and into the practical arena, French-Canadian Felix d'Herelle (1873-1949) made history in two different fields of biology. Not only was he first to demonstrate the use and application of bacteria for biological control of insect pests, he also became a seminal figure in the history of molecular biology. This engaging book is the first full biography of d'Herelle, a complex figure who emulated Louis Pasteur and influenced the course of twentieth-century biology, yet remained a controversial outsider to the scientific community. Drawing on family papers, archival sources, interviews, and d'Herelle's published and unpublished writings, Dr. William C. Summers tells the fascinating story of the scientist's life and the work that took him around the globe.

'Leidy was the first in America to use the microscope as a tool in forensic medicine. He established the concept of parasitism and became the father of American protozoology and parasitology, describing for the first time Trichina in the pig, the source of the human disease trichinosis. As the founder of American vertebrate paleontology, he was the first to describe a dinosaur and many other extinct animals in America'. -- Jacket.