Genomics – Applications in Human Biology

Sandy Primrose was an academic for 10 years and a senior manager in the biotechnology industry for 20 years. He now manages a consultancy practice focused on technology management. He is also Visiting Professor at the Universities of Warwick and Liverpool, and sits on the board of a number of biotechnology companies. Richard Twyman worked as a research scientist at the University of Warwick and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge before taking up scientific writing as a full-time occupation in 1998. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Biology, University of York, and manages a company that provides scientific writing services.

Chapter One: Biotechnology And Genomics In Medicine. Introduction. Recombinant DNA Technology. From Recombinant DNA To Molecular Medicine. Gene Medicine. Disease Models. The Impact Of Genomics On Medicine. The New Molecular Medicine. Outline Of This Book. Further Reading. Chapter Two: An Overview Of Genomics. Introduction. A Review Of Progress: The Human Genome Project. The Future: Functional Genomics. Mutational Genomics. Further Reading. Chapter Three: Genomics And The Challenge Of Infectious Disease. Microorganisms Causing Disease. Where Do New Diseases Come From?. Identifying The Causative Agent Of A Disease. Molecular Epidemiology. Host Resistance To Infection. Understanding Bacterial Pathogenicity. Comparative Genomics And Genome Plasticity. Combating Infectious Disease. Further Reading. Chapter Four: Analyzing And Treating Genetic Diseases. Genetic Disease In Context. Detecting Single Gene Disorders. Treating Single Gene Disorders. Finding Genes For Monogenic Diseases And Determining Gene Function. Analysis Of Polygenic Disorders. Haplotypes. The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). Individual Responses To Drugs (Pharmacogenomics). Further Reading. Chapter Five: Diagnosis And Treatment Of Cancer. Introduction. The Impact Of Genomics On Cancer Research. New Methods For The Diagnosis Of Cancer. New Approaches To Cancer Therapy. Further Reading. Chapter Six: The Large Scale Production Of Biopharmaceuticals. Overview. The Generation Of Monoclonal Antibodies. The Large Scale Culture Of Microorganisms. The Large Scale Culture Of Animal Cells. Expression Systems. Downstream Processing. Using Gene Manipulation To Facilitate Downstream Processing. Of Biopharmaceuticals. The Quality Of Biopharmaceuticals. Good Manufacturing Practice. Alternative Production Systems. Further Reading. Chapter Seven: Genomics And The Development Of New Chemical Entities. Introduction. How Drugs Are Developed. High-Throughput Screening. Target Validation And Animal Models. Combinatorial Chemistry. Dynamic Combinatorial Libraries. Virtual Screening. Combinatorial Biosynthesis And Chemobiosynthesis. Drug Metabolism. Toxicogenomics. Further Reading. Chapter Eight: Gene And Cell Therapies. Introduction. Gene Therapy. Nucleic Acids As Drugs. DNA Vaccines. Disease Models. Cell Therapy. Further Reading.