Replicating And Repairing The Genome: From Basic Mechanisms To Modern Genetic Technologies

Replicating and Repairing the Genome provides a concise overview of the fields of DNA replication and repair. The book is particularly appropriate for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, and scientists entering the field or working in related fields. The breadth of information regarding DNA replication and repair is vast and often difficult to absorb, with terminology that differs between experimental systems and with complex interconnections of these processes with other cellular pathways. This book provides simple conceptual descriptions of replication and repair pathways using mostly generic protein names, laying out the logic for how the pathways function and highlighting fascinating aspects of the underlying biochemical mechanisms and biology. The book incorporates extensive and informative diagrams and figures, as well as descriptions of a number of carefully chosen experiments that had major influences in the field. The process of DNA replication is explained progressively by starting with the system of a simple bacterial virus that uses only a few proteins, followed by the well-understood bacterial ( E coli ) system, and then culminating with the more complex eukaryotic systems. In the second half of the book, individual chapters cover key areas of DNA repair — postreplication repair of mismatches and incorporated ribonucleotides, direct damage reversal, excision repair, and DNA break repair, as well as the related areas of DNA damage tolerance (including translesion DNA polymerases) and DNA damage responses. The book closes with chapters that describe the huge impact of DNA replication and repair on aspects of human health and on modern biotechnology. Contents: The Challenges of Maintaining and Duplicating the GenomeThe Simple DNA Replication System of a Bacterial VirusThe Highly Efficient Replication System of BacteriaEukaryotic DNA ReplicationReplication Dynamics — Initiating, Regulating and Terminating Cellular DNA ReplicationPostreplication Repair of Mismatches and RibonucleotidesDNA Topology and the Enzymes That Alter ItDNA Damage — A Persistent Threat to the GenomeDirect Reversal of DNA DamageExcision Repair — Taking Advantage of the Complementary StrandRepair of Double-Strand BreaksDNA Damage Tolerance and Translesion DNA PolymerasesDNA Damage Response PathwaysDNA Replication and Repair in Human DiseaseEnzymes of DNA Replication and Repair Fuel Modern Genomic Technologies Readership: Graduate students, advanced undergraduates and scientists in the field of oncology/cancer biology.Replication;DNA Repair;Recombination;DNA;Biotechnology;Basic Research;DNA Damage;DNA Polymerase;DNA Helicase;Topoisomerase0 Key Features: As described above, the book provides a broad overview of the fields of DNA replication and repair without diving deeply into the many complexities of mechanism and terminology that are common in review articles and other books in these areas. The book carefully builds up a sophisticated understanding of the detailed mechanisms in replication and repair by introducing simple systems first, and adding layers of complexity without resorting to excessive technical jargon. Throughout the book, mechanisms and principles are illustrated with informative Figures and TablesThe process of discovery in science and the construction of informative and rigorous experiments are, for many, the most compelling aspects of being a scientist. In this book, experimental approaches are integrated into the text at times, and also augmented with side boxes that illustrate particularly interesting and/or historically important experiments. These side boxes are called «How was that tested?», and a subset illustrate the progression of scientific methodology with a «Then and Now» theme. Side boxes also highlight experimental findings that resulted in Nobel Prizes. These various side boxes are very useful when the book is adopted for a course — the course work can expand on the side box by discussing more of the experiments in that particular study, they can be used as an introduction to modern technologies in genetics, biochemistry and cell biology, and they can be used as jumping-off points for student presentations (oral or written) or for group discussionsThe author is an accomplished scientist/educator who has published over 100 research articles in the fields of DNA replication and repair, funded by extensive research grants from the NIH and other agencies. Dr Kreuzer is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has mentored high school, college, graduate and post-graduate students, and has taken a very active role in recruiting and mentoring students from underrepresented groups. Most relevant to this book, Dr Kreuzer has taught the principles of DNA replication and repair to undergraduate, graduate and medical students during his 30-year career at Duke University. In honor of his teaching and mentoring, he won the first Duke University Faculty Award for Graduate Teaching in the Basic Biomedical Sciences (2001)