Innovative Lab Exercises for Teaching Biology

Do you teach a biology or biotechnology course involving genes or genomes? Are you looking to update or refresh the course? Our new book Genome Science contains 19 innovative laboratory exercises for high school and college teaching. The exercises can be used to enhance existing courses, start new courses, or support student research projects.

Developed by the world-renowned DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the exercises illustrate key concepts of genome biology in humans, plants, and the worm C. elegans. “Genome Science aims to help beginners use modern tools to explore the unseen world of genes and genomes,” write David Micklos, Bruce Nash, and Uwe Hilgert, the book’s authors. “All labs stress the modern synthesis of molecular biology and computation, integrating in vitro experimentation with in silico bioinformatics.”

Molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing, and RNA interference (RNAi) are used to analyze DNA mutations, detect epigenetic modifications, silence genes, identify transposon insertions, detect genetically modified foods, and trace evolutionary histories. Computational tools are used to search, view, annotate, align, and compare DNA sequences. The labs are complemented by illustrated introductory text that provides an historical and conceptual framework. The book is complete with advice for instructors, laboratory planning guidelines, recipes for solutions, and answers to student questions.

For more information about the book, click here.

 

Management Skills for Scientists

“If you are a scientist, chances are that your self-awareness and interpersonal skills are not as well developed as your technical skills,” write Carl Cohen and Suzanne Cohen. “This limitation can impede your work.” They address this issue in a brand new edition of their book Lab Dynamics: Management and Leadership Skills for Scientists.

Cohen and Cohen offer practical advice on communication, self-awareness, relationships, motivation, negotiation, and mood management, and describe effective ways to interact with others. “We provide concepts, concrete tools, and exercises that will help you improve these skills,” they write. “Our approach is designed to aid you in overcoming the barriers to knowing yourself, what to do, and how to do it.”

This new edition of Lab Dynamics has been completely revised and includes new chapters. It will be of interest to all scientists and technical professionals, postdocs, and graduate students seeking career satisfaction and success. For more information on the book, click here.

 

New Book on Germ Cells

Sperm and eggs provide a link between generations.  During the formation of mature sperm and eggs, germ cells make a key decision to leave mitosis and enter meiosis.  This is one of the unique biological characteristics of germ cells that is reviewed in a new book from CSHL Press, Germ Cells.

Edited by Paolo Sassone-Corsi, Margaret Fuller, and Robert Braun, Germ Cells includes 12 chapters written by experts in the field. The contributors explore the undifferentiated state of germline stem cells, the triggers for meiotic entry, and the transcriptional and posttranscriptional controls during spermatogenesis and oogenesis that lead to the formation of mature gametes. They discuss the expression of sex-linked genes, and the establishment of genomic imprinting in the germline.  Gamete recognition proteins, egg activation, and genetic reprogramming following nuclear transfer are also covered.

“The past two decades have witnessed the accumulation of a spectacular amount of knowledge,” write the editors. “We wanted to incorporate into a single volume not only the remarkable advances that have been made but also the emerging concepts and hypotheses that currently drive thinking and experimentation in this field.”

Germ Cells is an indispensable reference for cell, molecular, and developmental biologists and anyone wishing to understand the implications of germ cell biology for reproductive technologies.  For more information on the book, click here.

 

New Book on the Golgi

The cellular organelle identified more than 100 years ago by Camillo Golgi is the subject of a new book from CSHL Press. Edited by Graham Warren and James Rothman, The Golgi includes contributions that review current models for Golgi traffic, describe the cargo-carrying machinery, and discuss the enzymes that determine the oligosaccharide composition of the cargo. The book also provides recent insights into Golgi architecture and positioning, and the way the Golgi fragments and regenerates during cell division.

Including discussions of Golgi bypass mechanisms, the evolution and diversity of the Golgi, and the involvement of Golgi in development and human inherited diseases, The Golgi will serve as a comprehensive reference for all cell biologists interested in this intriguing organelle.

 

New Book on Mammary Gland Biology

“Charles Daniel referred to the end bud of the mammary gland as an ‘experimental organism.’ Others have called it the ‘Drosophila eye’ of mammalian functional genomics. Indeed we would argue that the mammary gland itself can be thought of as an experimental organism,” write Mina Bissell, Kornelia Polyak, and Jeffrey Rosen in our latest book, The Mammary Gland as an Experimental Model.

The mammary gland is an excellent model system for research into developmental mechanisms, gene regulation, tissue organization, hormonal action, secretion, and stem cell biology. Studies of this organ are also critically important due to the prevalence of breast cancer in the population. The Mammary Gland as an Experimental Model reviews our understanding of mammary gland development, physiology, and tumor formation, emphasizing the value of the organ as a model system.

For more information about the book, click here.

 

New Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives Journal is Launched

Today, CSHL Press launched a new review journal, Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, that covers everything from the molecular and cellular bases of disease to translational medicine and new therapeutic strategies.

CSH Perspectives in Medicine works the same way as its sister journal, CSH Perspectives in Biology. The contributions are written by experts in each field and commissioned as Subject Collections by a board of eminent scientists and physicians. These Subject Collections gradually accumulate articles as new issues of the journal are published and, when complete, each Subject Collection represents a comprehensive survey of the field it covers.

The first issue, out today, features articles discussing the history of Parkinson’s disease, strategies to develop a vaccine for AIDS, and neuropathological alterations in Alzheimer disease.  For the complete table of contents, click here.  Subsequent issues of the journal will feature articles from Subject Collections on cancer biology, malaria, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, cardiovascular disease, and a variety of other conditions.

 

2008 CSHL Symposium, Control & Regulation of Stem Cells

This year’s CSHL Annual Symposium is nearly upon us. The subject for 2008 is Control & Regulation of Stem Cells and the meeting begins on Wednesday, May 28. Sadly I’ll be out of town speaking at the Society for Scholarly Publishing meeting in Boston. If, like me, you can’t attend, be sure to visit the website put together for the Symposium by CSHL’s Meetings & Courses office, which will feature video interviews of the key players in the field of Stem Cells. Also, the volume of collected papers from last year’s Symposium, on Clocks and Rhythms is now available (also online for subscribing institutions).