Gene Mapping, Discovery, and Expression

Completion of the sequence of the human genome represents an unpar- leled achievement in the history of biology. The project has produced nearly complete, highly accurate, and comprehensive sequences of genomes of s- eral organisms including human, mouse, drosophila, and yeast. Furthermore, the development of high-throughput technologies has led to an explosion of projects to sequence the genomes of additional organisms including rat, chimp, dog, bee, chicken, and the list is expanding. The nearly completed draft of genomic sequences from numerous species has opened a new era of research in biology and in biomedical sciences. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the new scientific era, the chapters in Gene Mapping, Discovery, and Expression: Methods and Protocols recapitulate the necessity of integration of experimental and computational tools for solving - portant research problems. The general underlying theme of this volume is DNA sequence-based technologies. At one level, the book highlights the importance of databases, genome-browsers, and web-based tools for data access and ana- sis. More specifically, sequencing projects routinely deposit their data in p- licly available databases including GenBank, at the National Center of Biotechnology (NCBI) in the United States; EMBL, maintained by the European Bioinformatics Institute; and DDBJ, the DNA Data Bank of Japan. Currently, several browsers offer facile access to numerous genomic DNA sequences for gene mapping and data retrieval.

Completion of the sequence of the human genome and the development of high-throughput technologies have opened a new era of research in biology and medicine. In Gene Mapping, Discovery, and Expression: Methods and Protocols, a panel of researchers from around the world and from a variety of disciplines offer a unique blend of computational tools and experimental techniques for gene mapping, comparative genomics, and studies of the control of gene expression. On the computational side, for beginners in the field, the book describes web-based technologies to localize and map genes, to access and retrieve data from microarray databases, to conduct comparative genomics, and to discover the potential "codes" in genomic DNA that may control the expression of protein-coding genes. Detailed experimental techniques described include methods for studying chromatin structure and allele-specific gene expression, methods for high-throughput analysis and characterization of transcription factor binding elements, and methods for isolation and identification of proteins that interact with DNA. The protocols in the book follow the successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series format, offering step-by-step instructions, an introduction outlining the principles behind the technique, lists of the necessary equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding pitfalls.
Cutting-edge and interdisciplinary, Gene Mapping, Discovery, and Expression: Methods and Protocols offers a collection of DNA-sequence-based technologies for gene discovery, retrieval of gene expression data, discovery of regulatory elements, and discovery of transcription factors that interact with DNA.