Computational analysis of biochemical systems - A practical guide for biochemists and molecular biologists

Throughout the foreseeable future, research in medicine, molecular biology, and biotechnologywill be dominated by scientific advancements resulting from the Human Genome Project. Knowledge of genomes will elucidate disease patterns and promises improved and personalized treatments. Food and drug development will be revolutionized by the focused manipulation of genes and biochemical processes. Researchers will begin to construct metabolic pathways from scratch. A true understanding of genetic and metabolic function and design will crucially depend on mathematical and computational methods for analyzing biochemical systems. It will require new ways of thinking and novel approaches of integrat ve analysis. This book teaches biochemists and molecular biologists in a hands-on fashion the use of modern computational methods for the analysis of complex biomedical systems; a modest mathematical background will suffice. The book begins with representations of biochemical systems, provides guidelines for setting up modess, discusses in detail mathematical and computational methods of parameter estimation and model analysis, and ultimately connects to the modern literature with four detailed case studies. Every step is illustrated with examples and exercises, and is explored with the accompanying software, PLAS. A dedicated Web site featuring color illustrations, further exorcises, research news, as well as resources and links also accompanies this book.