| |||||||||
| Bioscience book menu |
|
 | ||
| By: Jin Xiong ISBN: 0521600820 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Release Date: 13 March, 2006 Bioscience book rank: 196881 | The book is written in an easy and concise way. It is a very useful book for beginners. If the reader knows the basics, he needs a more advanced book. This compact, economical book (at least for bioinformatics) covers the usual basics of bioinformatics (Databases, alignments, phylogeny, gene prediction, structure prediction, transcriptome analysis, proteome analysis) but is unique in its approach. Recognizing most life scientists need to understand basic bioinformatis, but lack extensive mathematical modeling, computer command line or programming experience Jin Xiong has written a text that describes common bioinformatics tools to perform each of the above studies. Using diagrams and figures in lieu of complex mathematical formulas, Xiong explains how the tools work. Each task in bioinformatics has many comoputing tools - the strengths and weaknesses of each, and guidance in critical evaluation of the output are explained. There are capstone problems at the end of the book that are extremely helpful in enhancing understanding of the tools. The text is easy to read. <br /> <br />In the preface. Xiong describes that the book is a compilation of notes from several years of teaching bioinformatics. Therefore they presumably have been revised based on student review. However, this is a first edition - there are a lot of typos, misspellings, and some figures have errors. Hopefully these will be fixed for this is a fine introductory book. <br /> <br />The text is for those new to bioinformatics. Unlike many bioinformatics books, there is no coverage of programming (PERL or SQL for ex,). Therefore, those who are already skilled in this area will likely not find this particularly useful. Familiarity with the UNIX operating system will help readers do the problems. <br /> The author gives a pretty good summary of this book in the preface: 'I needed a text that was comprehensive enough to cover all major aspects in the field [bioinformatics], technical enough for a college level course, and sufficiently up to date to include most current algorithms while at the same time being logical and easy to understand... The book is aimed at graduate and undergraduate students in biology, or any practicing molecular biologise, who has no background in computer algorithms but wishes to understand the fundamental principles of bioinformatics and use this knowledge to tackle his or her own research problems.' <br /> <br />The book was developed over several years, first being issued in the form of Xerox'd lecture notes to test the acceptability by students. Subsequently the notes were revised, expanded and now assembled into book form. <br /> <br />There are now a large number of standard software packages designed for use in the bioinformatics area. Many of these are discussed. However, it is not intended for this book to be a manual on these packages. Instead it discusses the software from a standpoint of when and where specific packages can be used to solve your problem of the moment. <br /> <br />As a field, bioinformatics is expanding and developing at an extremely rapid rate. This book is up to date as of early 2006. | |
 | ||
| By: Jonathan Pevsner ISBN: 0471210048 Publisher: Wiley-Liss Release Date: 04 November, 2003 Bioscience book rank: 264481 | "...an intriguing work targeted toward biologists wanting to solve problems...provides a compendium of many biological insights and breakthroughs and will be a useful resource...highly recommended." (Choice, Vol. 41, No. 7, March 2004) Unlike the previous review, I found the user perspective, rather than the mathematical perspective refreshing. I have been teaching bioinformatics to CS students for several years and all too often the students are great at algorithms and theory but do not understand the user they are designing for. This book teaches just that -- how to use bioinformatics from a user or researcher's viewpoint. Medical students and biologists will find it useful for direct applicability to their work, but I also reccomend it for bioinformatics students who need to complement their theoretical background with practical use. All too often, CS students of bioinformatics can design a great database with powerful access tools, but with a horrible interface because they don't have this perspective.<p>Now, for the book itself. It is easy to read and covers all aspects of bioinformatics from a sequence perspective (information retrieval, BLAST, gene expression and microarrays, proteomics and protein bioinformatics, genomes and disease). The coverage of databases and URLs is thourough and the text is easy to read, yet useful. The book is comprehensive with one area seemingly missing -- it would have been useful to include a chapter on systems biology and/or cellular modeling and the tools available (i.e. E-Cell). The book is especially useful to a researcher who is trying to explore all aspects of a particular gene, protein, disease, or pathway using bioinformatics tools. <p>The book is in stark contrast to the other Pevser (that is Pevzner) who wrote a bioinformatics book that surveyed algorithm theory underlying bioinformatics. <p>This book is also useful for less technical professionals in industry -- the managers, lawyers and venture capitalists that pervade the biotech landscape all need to communicate effectively and they can surely learn that here, provided they have some background in cell biology first. A genious attempt to present bioinformatics as if it is a discipline without any computational content. Perfect for students who lost any hope to understand what is the engine driving bioinformatics tools but want simply to memorize how to use them instead. Must be a very comfortable reading for biologists but is as exciting as a long carefully designed restaurant menu for a mathematician. If the author wants to raise a new generation of biologists with this book then biology and *real* bioinformatics will be divorced forever. | |
 | ||
| By: A. Malcolm Campbell, Laurie J. Heyer ISBN: 0805382194 Publisher: Benjamin Cummings Release Date: 12 March, 2006 Bioscience book rank: 129287 | This book follows a convoluted path to describe basic methodologies that could be taught in a much more straightforward manner. The authors get so mired down in the biology of specific applications of bioinformatic tools that the tool itself falls into the background. The poor layout of the book even makes it difficult to read. The main text of the book is interspersed with examples, "Math Minutes" and other text which are not properly set off from the main text.
<br />
<br />The web links associated with the book are outdated and do not appear to be updated by the publisher to keep up with changes. If a web site is associated with a book, it should at the very least keep up with changes. In a quickly changing field such as bioinformatics these updates are absolutely critical.
<br />
<br />The book is also overpriced given the low quality content and paperback binding. The figures are subpar with only purple and gray coloring. I would expect at least a few full color figures for a book at this price point.
<br />
<br />Overall I would say that this book is not a useful tool for teaching bioinformatics or genomics. This was a great textbook. The website was very helpful and I liked how the author did not waste paper/printing/money on images and half of the information was on the web. It was nice not carrying around a heavy text all semester, even if half my reading/work was done in front of a computer. A lot of information packed into this book. One sentence sometimes requires a lot of knowledge (thank goodness for my professor who explained it all). I would have to say, without a lecture, I would walk away from this text thinking I knew something but not knowing much at all. For an amature like me, I definitely need a lecture to go along with this text. Although some mistakes were found, a lot less than the first edition (so I'm told). This book represents a breakthrough in textbook design. It starts with a 'case study' for a child visiting you the physician. You get the basic symptoms from the mother, then you are sent to the web to go attempt to establish a diagnosis. And you are not sent to some private web site, but to the Online Mendelian Inheitance in Man (OMIN) database of human diseases and genes, and to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Immediately the student is exposed to a wealth of information far beyond what any book could provide. It's rare that you see a textbook that attempts to take the student into the real world. <br /> <br />Intermixed with the case studies is textual materials that provide the student with the basic background that they need. In addition there are almost random Math Minutes and Discovery Questions that direct the student into further depth of understanding. <br /> <br />If you are planning to teach this kind of class, you owe it to yourself to at least investigate this book before selecting a text. | |
 | ||
| By: Dan E. Krane, Michael L. Raymer ISBN: 0805346333 Publisher: Benjamin Cummings Release Date: 22 September, 2002 Bioscience book rank: 533240 | Bioinformatics is a burgeoning interdisciplinary field that holds great promise in handling large scale biomedical data by computational approaches. The book "Fundamental Concepts of Bioinformatics" is a very important textbook and reference book for both biology and computer science students and researchers, as well as for those professionals in medical science, and the pharmaceutical industry. It goes with saying that many laboratory approaches are expensive and time consuming, and cannot hope to keep up with the rapid growth of available data, making computational approaches indispensable. While a number of books dealing with bioinformatics, most of them are generally limited in scope, and very few of them provide a comprehensive but easy understandable treatment from both computer science and biomedical principles. This book is unique and is well-organized, and provides a systematic but straightforward treatment of the various techniques used for bioinformatics. One of the attractive features of the book is the comprehensive coverage of the various types of data use in bioinformatics analysis, followed by computational approaches that are most suited to the particular data type. This book also helps researchers entering bioinformatics. The reader can quickly identify the chapters that are most relevant to their own interest. It could also be used as a textbook for a senior undergraduate or a graduate level bioinformatics course. It is a valuable resource to both students and researchers, no matter whether they perform experimental research or computer science studies. Computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians seeking to discover how bioinformatics is related to well-defined paradigms in computer science could also benefit greatly from this book. Professors Michael L. Raymer and Dan E. Krane have authored many research articles in both computer science and biological science. I highly recommend this book as a great textbook and reference book for both students and researchers. Features <p>First bioinformatics primer for undergraduates. Personable writing style and numerous analogies make this text accessible to undergraduates. <p>Focus on fundamentally important algorithms at the core of bioinformatics. <p>Easy-to-do "paper and pencil" calculations make fundamental algorithms unintimidating for biology students and accessible to students with limited experience in computer programming. <p>Combined expertise (biology and computer science) of author team ensures an integrated approach and an appreciation for the biology and computer science tools and perspectives. <p>End-of-Chapter summaries tie together key concepts and provide real-world examples of the algorithms presented. <p>Detailed solutions to selected text questions are provided in the back of the text so students can check their answers. <p>Annotated Reading Material sections at the end of each chapter direct students to additional resources for further explanation. <p>Questions and problems at the end of each chapter help students apply their understanding of the material.<p> <br> <br>Contents <p>MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. <br>DATA SEARCHES AND PAIRWISE ALIGNMENTS. <br>SUBSTITUTION PATTERNS. <br>DISTANCE-BASED METHODS OF PHYLOGENETICS. <br>CHARACTER-BASED APPROACHES TO PHYLOGENETICS. <br>GENOMICS AND GENE RECOGNITION. <br>PROTEIN FOLDING. <br>PROTEOMICS. | |
 | ||
| By: Paul G. Higgs, Teresa K. Attwood ISBN: 1405106832 Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Release Date: 18 February, 2005 Bioscience book rank: 624331 | I think this is one of the best books I have read on molecular evolution. The explanations are lucid. Easy to understand examples are given in increasing order of complexity. <br />The book is not restricted to molecular evolution itself but covers a wide range of topics. I highly recommend it! | |
 | ||
| By: Michael R. Barnes ISBN: 0470026200 Publisher: Wiley Release Date: 04 May, 2007 Bioscience book rank: 435181 | This book is a welcomed addition to the literature of bioinformatics. It helps one become familiar with how to find and use genetic data. This is a dauting task for most investigators who must navigate through the sea of genetic data now being produced. Analyzing genetic data is not an easy task but this book helps one identify resources and map a course. | |
 | ||
| By: Ole Lund, Morten Nielsen, Claus Lundegaard, Can Kesmir, Søren Brunak ISBN: 0262122804 Publisher: The MIT Press Release Date: 01 September, 2005 Bioscience book rank: 697912 | The huge majority of bioinformatics (BI) books seem to treat the topic as an end in itself. I have to admit, there is a lot to enjoy in the algorithms people have developed and in clever implementations. Often, though, the calculations appear to be fine art, to enjoy in abstract, or for creating point solutions to isolated problems. <br /> <br />This book breaks the mold. It addresses every aspect of immunology, using BI as the tool and as the unifying language for discussing immunology's many aspects. The content gets off to a slow start, starting with two chapters describing the topic and its importance. The next three chapters summarize a few of the basic algorithms: alignment and multiple alignment, motif-finding, Gibbs sampling, clustering, and neural networks. The discussion is competent, and the authors' handling of neural nets stands out from the crowd of BI books. Still, the pace is too brisk and the range of topics is too narrow to recommend this book as a general BI text. <br /> <br />It's not one, and never meant to be. That section just reminds the knowledgable reader of the mathematical tools and BI terms to be used in the remaining nine chapters. Here's where an immunology background will help a lot. I know, because I lack one. Still, the discussion holds to a level that a determined reader with a general bio and BI background can follow. Even at my barely-following level, it's exciting stuff. <br /> <br />At this writing, the 2005 H5N1 bird flu is all over the front pages, so medical response to emerging viruses is on people's minds. This book explores the whole range of issues in immunological response to the threat: identifying specific viral features that stand out as vaccine targets, understanding the immunological mechanisms that need to be engaged, evolution of the pathogens to emerging human resistance, and the ways that human variation affects the decisions in medicine and public policy. <br /> <br />That last surprised me, but makes perfect sense. Different human populations have slightly different sets of alleles for immunological response. It's one of the reasons that humanity does so well in a world of ever-changing antigenic threats. As a species, we have so many possible responses to any challenge that someone somewhere is bound to be able to survive almost any pathogen around. The range of immune-response alleles, their different sensitivities and combinations, and their distributions in different gene pools helps decide how a vaccine must be crafted. If the vaccine antigen generally triggers a good response in African Americans but not East Asians, it answers only part of the question. <br /> <br />This is the first text I know that really shows BI at work in clinically important ways. It's a guided tour of the world of immunological attacks and responses, measured using BI tools - not just pathogens, but allergens, autoimmune triggers, and even possible cancer treatment. Beginners will have a rough time following the discussion, but this is a book for people deep in their specialty. It gave me a good idea of what questions are asked, and why, and how BI answers them. I look forward to seeing an immunological researcher's review of this text - from the pure BI stand point, it's narrow, but shows the versatility of the tools it chooses. <br /> <br />//wiredweird | |
 | ||
| By: D. R. Westhead ISBN: 1859962726 Publisher: BIOS Scientific Publ Release Date: 16 October, 2002 Bioscience book rank: 470515 | If you want a concise primer on bioinformatics, then this book may be of interest. I read this book as a review, but it seems that it may serve well for newcomers alike.<p>Compared to other primers such as "Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills", this book contains less unnecessasary figures (e.g., central dogma, etc.), covers wider range of topics, tries to be less verbose. <p>A drawback is that there is little description at an algorithmic level (e.g., dynamic programming). However, the book does a pretty good job in conveying the main ideas about what such algorithms do and why they are needed. I like this book's concise and accurate presentation style much better than lengthy and confusing style found in many other books (e.g., Bioinformatics - David Mount). Another drawback is that font is small.<p>Overall, this book is not bad. I think this book's preface tells you what you can expect from this book, so below I excerpted a paragraph.<p>"We will tell you how to do things, but this is not a software manual for commonly used packages. They have their own manuals that are (mostly) much better than anything we could provide. Many of the methods we describe rely on quite complex mathematical, statistical or computational techniques. Often we choose not to describe these at all, but where we do we have aimed for a simple conceptual understanding." | |
| By: Jae K. Lee ISBN: 0471692727 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc Release Date: 03 March, 2008 Bioscience book rank: 794803 | ||
 | ||
| By: Laxmi Parida ISBN: 1584885491 Publisher: Chapman & Hall/CRC Release Date: 04 July, 2007 Bioscience book rank: 811453 | ||
Related books in this category:
bioinformatics, computational biology, sequence analysis, protein structure, data mining, biostatistics
Main book index: all categories
|
| ||||||||