BIO 125L: Principles of Biology Lab I: Books

Understanding the molecular underpinnings of life is a task requiring insight from multiple disciplines. In that likeness, biologists have moved toward a systemic approach drawing from the expertise of computational scientists, chemists, engineers, and mathematicians. This collaborative approach requires translation of biological semantics into common language so that the molecular mechanisms can be decoded to promote health, design devices, and preserve environmental homeostasis. This book provides context for biological forms and functions by starting at the molecular level then building outward to include trends in biomedical technology, evolutionary impact, and the lasting implications for our biosphere. In that likeness, biological concepts underlie most wastewater treatment and provide foundation for the hazardous waste treatment being done today. Furthermore, the relationship between biology and geology is starting to emerge as a key relationship for self-healing concrete and reinforcement protection within concrete.

Over the last decades cell biology and biological chemistry have increasingly turned their attention to the space between cells and revealed an elaborate network of macromolecules essential for structural support, cell adhesion and signaling. This comprehensive handbook of the extracellular matrix will give an overview of the current state of knowledge of matrix components (structure and function), their role in heath and disease (matrix pathobiology) and new aspects related to pharmacological targeting. It will provide an introduction to the extracellular matrix and detailed sections and chapters on: Importance of extracellular matrix in health and disease Matrix proteoglycans (aggrecan, versican, perlecan, SLRPs, syndecans, glypicans, serglycin) Matrix proteinases (remodeling, would healing, regulatory roles in health and disease, metalloproteinases, cystein proteases, plasmin and plasminogen activator system) Glycobiology (hyaluronan and sulfated glycosaminoglycans in cancer,  inflammation and metabolic control) Collagens (supramolecular assembly, proteins binding collagen, scaffolds, bacterial and mutated collagens, procollagen proteinases) Cell surface receptors (integrins, syndecans, mechanical strain and TGFb, CD44 and DDR).

This book is a comprehensive study of the subject of ionic interactions in macromolecules. The first parts of the book review and analyze the conventional treatments of fixed charges (e.g. in polyelectrolytes and polyampholytes), including screening and condensation by mobile ions. The interaction of ions with less polar sites on the macromolecule (e.g. amide bonds), and the origin of the lyotropic effects (focusing on binding versus condensation) will also be extensively addressed. The book also explores complex micellar organizations involving charged macromolecules (e.g. DNA) and low-molecular-weight ampholytes and strong protein associations. The resulting structures are relevant to a variety of functional biological systems and synthetic analogs. The contribution of electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction to the stability of proteins and other supramolecular structures will also be analyzed. There are chapters on applications such as deionization and cosmetic formulation. This 21-chapter book is divided into three sections: Fundamentals Mixed Interactions Functions and Applications

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the structure, biology and clinical significance of calpain, enzymes and enzyme activity. Topics discussed include monitoring the activation of calpain I for sensitive assessment of pathogenesis and neuroprotectant action; the myeloperoxidase enzyme as a diagnostic biomarker and target for new drug developments; the biological effects of calpain inhibitors on human phagocyte functions; ALDH activity of Artemia as a tool for the investigation of the toxicity of antifouling paints; and calpain as an indicator of organophosphorous-induced delayed neuropathy.

Bacteria, yeast, fungi and microalgae can act as producers (or catalysts for the production) of food ingredients, enzymes and nutraceuticals. With the current trend towards the use of natural ingredients in foods, there is renewed interest in microbial flavours and colours, food bioprocessing using enzymes and food biopreservation using bacteriocins. Microbial production of substances such as organic acids and hydrocolloids also remains an important and fast-changing area of research. Microbial production of food ingredients, enzymes and nutraceuticals provides a comprehensive overview of microbial production of food ingredients, enzymes and nutraceuticals. Part one reviews developments in the metabolic engineering of industrial microorganisms and advances in fermentation technology in the production of fungi, yeasts, enzymes and nutraceuticals. Part two discusses the production and application in food processing of substances such as carotenoids, flavonoids and terponoids, enzymes, probiotics and prebiotics, bacteriocins, microbial polysaccharides, polyols and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Perhaps the most important chemical reactions on the planet take place inside a plant's chloroplasts. In this tiny green organelle, plants have the capacity to capture the energy in light and use that energy to convert CO2 gas into building blocks used to produce all four categories of biological molecules--lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. Animals could not survive if plants did not exist. Not only do they provide us with oxygen to breathe, they also generate the starting materials for everything we eat. Rather than focusing on names and trivial details, this book shows how plants harvest energy in a way that self-regulates. Plants shift how they process light energy to maximize their productivity and minimize their exposure to dehydration. All of this regulation is carried out inside every plant on earth. In addition to plants, there are microbial primary producers that can harvest energy from a range of environmental sources so that no place on earth is devoid of life.

Photosynthesis is one of the most important processes that affects all life on Earth, and, even now in the twenty-first century, it is still being studied and tested by scientists, chemists, and botanists.  Regardless of politics or opinion, climate change is one of the most polarizing and important, potentially dangerous, issues facing the future of our planet, and a better understanding of photosynthesis, and how it is changing with our global climate, could hold the answers to many scientific questions regarding this important phenomenon. This edited volume, written by some of the world's foremost authorities on photosynthesis, presents revolutionary new ideas and theories about photosynthesis, and how it can be viewed and studied at various levels within organisms. Focusing on the molecular, cellular, and organismic levels, the scientists who compiled this volume offer the student or scientist a new approach to an old subject.  Looking through this new lens, we can continue to learn more about the natural world in which we live and our place in it.