Quickstart Molecular Biology: An Introductory Course for Mathematicians, Physicists, and Engineers [Paperback]

This book is an introductory course in molecular biology for mathematicians, physicists, and engineers. It covers the basic features of DNA, proteins, and cells but in the context of recent technological advances, such as next generation sequencing and high-throughput screens, and their applications. This enables readers to move rapidly from the basics to an understanding of cutting-edge research in systems biology and genomics.As biology becomes more quantitative and computational, increasing numbers of physical scientists, mathematicians, and engineers are moving into areas such as genomics, developmental biology, neuroscience, and systems biology. The science of molecular biology underpins all these subjects, and an understanding of its fundamental concepts and the key experimental techniques used is essential.

This book provides an introductory course in molecular biology that is designed specifically for mathematicians, physicists, and computational scientists. It starts by introducing the basic features of DNA, genes, proteins, and cells, before moving on to organismal development, genetic traits, and human evolution. In each case, basic concepts are described in the context of recent technological advances, such as next-generation sequencing, mass spectrometry, and high-throughput screens. The book thus enables readers to move rapidly from the basics of molecular biology to an understanding of cutting-edge techniques used in cell and developmental biology, genomics, and synthetic biology.Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. DNA: how cells store information
Chapter 3. Gene expression: how cells process information
Chapter 4. Cells and cellular states
Chapter 5. Proteins and signaling: how cells regulate information flow
Chapter 6. Networks controlling biological oscillators
Chapter 7. Transcriptional networks in development
Chapter 8. Understanding complex traits
Chapter 9. Networks in human evolution
Chapter 10. Quantitative apl{