Fundamental Laboratory Approaches for Biochemistry and Biotechnology - 2nd Edition by Alexander J Ninfa & David P Ballou & Marilee Benore

Book Synopsis

Ninfa/Ballou/Benore is a solid biochemistry lab manual, dedicated to developing research skills, allowing students to learn techniques and develop the the critical thinking and organizational approaches necessary to conduct laboratory research.

Ninfa/Ballou/Benore focuses on basic biochemistry laboratory techniques but also includes molecular biology exercises, a reflection of most courses which concentrate on traditional biochemistry experiments and techniques. The experiments are designed so that theory and technique are learned as fundamental research tools, and the biochemistry and molecular biology applications are seamlessly integrated throughout the manual. The manual also includes an introduction to ethics in the laboratory, uncommon in similar manuals. Most importantly, perhaps, is the authors' three-pronged approach to encouraging students to think like a research scientist: first, the authors introduce the scientific method and the hypothesis as a framework for developing conclusive experiments; second, the manual's experiments are designed to become increasingly complex in order to teach more advanced techniques and analysis; finally, gradually, the students are required to devise their own protocols. In this way, students and instructors are able to break away from a "cookbook" approach and to think and investigate for themselves.

Suitable for lower-level and upper-level courses; Ninfa spans these courses and can also be used for some first-year graduate work.

From the Back Cover

Fundamental Laboratory Approaches for Biochemistry and Biotechnology was written as a biochemistry laboratory text for advanced undergraduate and first year graduate students in biochemistry and other life sciences. Our goal was to provide a logical framework for training students how to approach research problems and conduct and evaluate scientific research. Each chapter provides extensive background on the principles underlying methods used to research, followered by experiments designed to illustrate some of those principles...

We emphasize that research is fun and satisfying. We hope that our love of biochemical research is evident throughout this text and that students might share in the excitement of "doing" modern biochemical and molecular biology research once they have been exposed to the ideas and techniques covered in this text. — From the authors' Preface

About the Author

Alexander J. Ninfa is Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan and is internationally recognized for his work on the biochemical mechanisms of signal transduction and transcriptional regulation in bacteria.

David P. Ballou is Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan and is widely known for his work in rapid kinetics and the study of enzyme mechanisms involving redox coenzymes.