Description: Understanding mechanisms of gene regulation that are independent of the DNA sequence itself - epigenetics - has the potential to overthrow long-held views on central topics in biology, such as the biology of disease or the evolution of species. High throughput technologies reveal epigenetic mechanisms at a genome-wide level, giving rise to epigenomics as a new discipline with a distinct set of research questions and methods. Leading experts from academia, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries explain the role of epigenomics in a wide range of contexts, covering basic chromatin biology, imprinting at a genome-wide level, and epigenomics in disease biology and epidemiology. Details on assays and sequencing technology serve as an up-to-date overview of the available technological tool kit. A reliable guide for newcomers to the field as well as experienced scientists, this is a unique resource for anyone interested in applying the power of twenty-first-century genomics to epigenetic studies.
Brief description: Krishnarao Appasani is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GeneExpression Systems, a conference producing organization focusing on Biomedical and Physical Sciences. He is editor of MicroRNAs: From Basic Science to Disease Biology (2007) and RNA Interference: From Basic Science to Drug Development (2005), also published by Cambridge University Press.
Review Quotes: "This is an excellent work, highly readable and well documented by more than a hundred scientists from academia and industry. The extensive coverage of current theory, new technologies, and disease mechanisms, all associated with epigenomics, makes this book invaluable to students and researchers in a wide range of disciplines. Recommended for all academic libraries."
Atsuo Ogura, Head of Bioresource Engineering at RIKEN BioResource Center, Tsukuba, Japan