Alfred Pühler – författare

Eine wirtschaftliche und einfache Herstellung komplexer Moleküle für maßgeschneiderte Werkstoffe, Arzneimittel oder auch Treibstoffe, dazu neue Methoden für Forschungszweige wie Biomedizin, Materialwissenschaft oder Katalyseforschung: Die Liste potenzieller Anwendungen der Synthetischen Biologie, einer Forschungsrichtung zwischen Molekularbiologie, Organischer Chemie, Nanobiotechnologie und Informationstechnik, ist lang. Ausgehend von der bereits großen Bedeutung der Biotechnologie in der chemischen Industrie könnte es in den nächsten Jahren zu einer regelrechten Biologisierung der Wirtschaft kommen. Die neue Technikwissenschaft an der Grenze von Biologie und Technik übt eine große Faszination aus, die dieser Band weitergeben möchte - freilich ohne die Herausforderungen auszublenden.

Seit vier Jahrzehnten gibt es Kontroversen und Kommunikationsmaßnahmen zur Grünen Gentechnik und anderen Feldern der Biotechnologie. Dieser Sammelband trägt dazu Analysen der Erfahrungen in kommunikations- und sozialwissenschaftlicher sowie historischer Perspektive zusammen. Im Rahmen eines Projekts von acatech, der Deutschen Akademie der Technikwissenschaften wurden daraus Empfehlungen abgeleitet, wie Biotechnologie künftig sachgerecht, ausgewogen und urteilsunterstützend kommuniziert werden kann.

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) - the conversion of molecular nitrogen into ammonia - is one of the most important reactions in ecology and agriculture. It is performed exclusively by microbes (prokaryotes) that live in symbiosis with plants. This book summarizes the latest research on this reaction, the participating microbes and the genetics of how their relevant genes could be transferred into the plants. In the light of a more sustainable and less ecologically damaging agriculture, this is becoming an increasingly pressing issue.

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) - the conversion of molecular nitrogen into ammonia - is one of the most important reactions in ecology and agriculture. It is performed exclusively by microbes (prokaryotes) that live in symbiosis with plants. This book summarizes the latest research on this reaction, the participating microbes and the genetics of how their relevant genes could be transferred into the plants. In the light of a more sustainable and less ecologically damaging agriculture, this is becoming an increasingly pressing issue.

The development of powerful new techniques and refmements of tech­ niques in molecular genetics in recent years, and the surge in interest in biotechnology based on genetic methods, have heralded a new golden age in molecular genetics, and stimulated in diverse disciplines much interest in the technologies themselves and their potential uses in basic and applied biomedical sciences. Although some excellent specialist laboratory manuals (especially the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory manuals by I. H. Miller; R. W. Davies et al. ; and T. Maniatis et al. ) on certain chapters of molecular genetics exist, no general text that covers a broad spectrum of the sub­ ject has thus far been published. The purpose of this manual is to pre­ sent most, though of necessity not all of the important methods of molecular genetics, in a series of simple experiments, many of which can be readily accomplished by the microbiologist, biochemist or biotechnologist that has had only limited exposure to genetics. The remainder of the experiments require either greater familiarity with the subject, or guidance by someone with such experience. The book should, therefore, not only enable individuals to acquire new proce­ dures for ongoing projects, but also serve as a basis for the teaching of molecular genetic techniques in formal predoctoral and postdoctoral laboratory courses.

The development of powerful new techniques and refmements of tech­ niques in molecular genetics in recent years, and the surge in interest in biotechnology based on genetic methods, have heralded a new golden age in molecular genetics, and stimulated in diverse disciplines much interest in the technologies themselves and their potential uses in basic and applied biomedical sciences. Although some excellent specialist laboratory manuals (especially the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory manuals by I. H. Miller; R. W. Davies et al. ; and T. Maniatis et al. ) on certain chapters of molecular genetics exist, no general text that covers a broad spectrum of the sub­ ject has thus far been published. The purpose of this manual is to pre­ sent most, though of necessity not all of the important methods of molecular genetics, in a series of simple experiments, many of which can be readily accomplished by the microbiologist, biochemist or biotechnologist that has had only limited exposure to genetics. The remainder of the experiments require either greater familiarity with the subject, or guidance by someone with such experience. The book should, therefore, not only enable individuals to acquire new proce­ dures for ongoing projects, but also serve as a basis for the teaching of molecular genetic techniques in formal predoctoral and postdoctoral laboratory courses.