The Roots Of Modern Biochemistry

„The Roots of Modern Biochemistry ist eine gute Einführung in die moderne Biochemie, und als Einstieg sehr zu empfehlen.” Prof. Dr. Hans Fritz, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

This book combines fundamental concepts of biochemistry and the dental sciences to provide an authentic, coherent and comprehensive text for dental students. It describes in simple language the intricate pathophysiology of biomolecules in health and in diseases of dental and oral tissues. This book also describes the evolution of biochemistry in a chronological order, provides information about the fundamental chemical structure, classification and biological significance of biomolecules, vitamins and hormones, enriched with flow charts and diagrams for easy understanding and quick reference. It includes chapters on nucleic acids, nutrition and serum enzymes and organ function tests, and offers an innovative approach to familiarize dental students with the biochemical composition of enamel, dentine, cementum and saliva, explaining the biochemical basis of dental caries, periodontal diseases, role of fluorides in caries prophylaxis, fluoride toxicity, and the role of amino acids as anti-hypersensitive agents.

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a means to power the cell, machinery to carry out varied processes within the cell, a structure within which everything runs, and also governance through a web of interlocking chemical reactions. Biochemistry is the study of those reactions, the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them, and the massive macromolecules (such as DNA, cytoskeletons, proteins and carbohydrates) that form the chemical machinery and structures on which these biochemical reactions take place. It didn't take long for an understanding of the chemistry of life to turn into a desire to manipulate it. Drugs and therapies all aim to modify biochemical processes for good or ill: Penicillin, derived from mould, stops bacteria making their cell walls. Aspirin, with its origins in willow bark, inhibits enzymes involved in inflammatory responses. A few nanograms of botulinum toxin (botox), can kill by preventing the release of neurotransmitters from the ends of nerves and so leads to paralysis and death, or give a wrinkle free forehead (if administered in very tiny quantities).This Very Short Introduction discusses the key concepts of biochemistry, as well as the historical figures in the field and the molecules they studied, before considering the current science and innovations in the field, and the interaction between biochemistry, biotechnology, and synthetic biology. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Every day it seems the media focus on yet another new development in biology--gene therapy, the human genome project, the creation of new varieties of animals and plants through genetic engineering. These possibilities have all emanated from molecular biology. A History of Molecular Biology is a complete but compact account for a general readership of the history of this revolution. Michel Morange, himself a molecular biologist, takes us from the turn-of-the-century convergence of molecular biology's two progenitors, genetics and biochemistry, to the perfection of gene splicing and cloning techniques in the 1980s. Drawing on the important work of American, English, and French historians of science, Morange describes the major discoveries--the double helix, messenger RNA, oncogenes, DNA polymerase--but also explains how and why these breakthroughs took place. The book is enlivened by mini-biographies of the founders of molecular biology: Delbrück, Watson and Crick, Monod and Jacob, Nirenberg. This ambitious history covers the story of the transformation of biology over the last one hundred years; the transformation of disciplines: biochemistry, genetics, embryology, and evolutionary biology; and, finally, the emergence of the biotechnology industry. An important contribution to the history of science, A History of Molecular Biology will also be valued by general readers for its clear explanations of the theory and practice of molecular biology today. Molecular biologists themselves will find Morange's historical perspective critical to an understanding of what is at stake in current biological research.

The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.

The editors invited selected authors who had participated in or observed developments in biochemistry and molecular biology, particularly in the second half of this century, to record their personal recollections of the times and circumstances in which they worked. Having been given free reign, both content and style of the contruibutions reflect the flavour of the personality of the author. The book reflects the explosive development of biochemistry and molecular biology and related sciences that had led to the almost unique situation of these fields coming of age at a time when their founding fathers, or their scientific children, were alive and well. The contributions in this volume encompass a wide variety of experiences in many different countries and in very different fields of biochemistry.

An eminent pioneer of modern protein chemistry, Fruton (biochemistry emeritus, Yale U.) looks back on six decades in biochemical research and education to advance stimulating thoughts about science--how it is practical, how it is explained, and how its history is written. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR