This user-friendly reference provides a basic understanding of the molecular biology underlying pulmonary diseases. Presents the background information necessary to understand the impact that molecular biology has on pulmonary medicine. Chapters begin with a list of basic concepts and a summary of the state-of-the-art information for each disease, starting with a clinical-molecular point of view and concluding with an annotated bibliography. Features excellent color illustrations and a thorough appendix!
Each chapter illustrates molecular biologic methods or concepts by showing how this method has provided new information about a pulmonary disease. Each chapter begins with a list ofbasic concepts to be discussed and ends with a selection of annotated references.
The first chapter, Basics, covers the basic concepts of what DNA is, how it is organized to govern the making of proteins, and their application to pulmonary medicine.
Thechapter on Tuberculosis explains how the polymerase chain reaction relates to the diagnosis of the disease. Plus, discussions of virulence and drug resistance illustrate the clinical relevance of cloning DNA and screening libraries.
Amyotrophias Lateral Sclerosis includes coverage of the structure of chromosomes, how to find a gene by linkage analysis, site-directed mutagenesis, and programmed cell death or apoptosis.
Cystic Fibrosis discusses deduction of protein structure from gene sequence, posttranscriptional processing of RNA, and posttranslational processing of proteins. Cystic Fibrosis also illustrates the clinical relevance of genetic screening, commercial production of recombinant proteins, and gene therapy.
Lung Cancer and the Cell Cycle explores DNA replication and its regulation, oncogenes and anti-oncogenes, and DNA mutations.
The appendix contains a glossary of terms with simple definitions.