Biotechnology: An Introduction (Non-InfoTrac Version)

Biotechnology encompasses the processes and methods used to manipulate living organisms or the substances and products from these organisms for medical, agricultural, and industrial purposes. Barnum not only supplies the big picture of the biotechnology field, but provides in-depth details to illustrate the technology. Traditionally, biotechnology texts have been too narrow in coverage and focused only on the methods used in biotechnology. In contrast, Barnums text extensively covers the topics, with lots of examples and case studies, and discusses the implications in areas such as gene therapy, medicine, agriculture, marine biology, and forensics. Designed to grab the interest of students and make the topics relevant to them, Barnums text is an excellent integration of historical and modern biotechnology topics.

Susan Barnum received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University and currently teaches in the Botany Department at Miami University in Ohio. Her research focuses on the evolution of cyanobacteria, the molecular evolution of nitrogen fixation genes, and the molecular response to stress.