The United States is entering an era when, more than ever, the sharing of resources and information might be critical to scientific progress. Every dollar saved by avoiding duplication of efforts and by producing economies of scale will become increasingly important as federal funding enters an era of fiscal restraint. This book focuses on six diverse case studies that share materials or equipment with the scientific community at large: the American Type Culture Collection, the multinational coordinated Arabidopsis thaliana Genome Research Project, the Jackson Laboratory, the Washington Regional Primate Research Center, the Macromolecular Crystallography Resource at the Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source, and the Human Genome Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The book also identifies common strengths and problems faced in the six cases, and presents a series of recommendations aimed at facilitating resource sharing in biomedical research.

Microbial Resources: From Functional Existence in Nature to Applications provides an exciting interdisciplinary journey through the rapidly developing field of microbial resources, including relationships to aspects of microbiology. Covers the functional existence of microorganisms in nature, as well as the transfer of this knowledge for industrial and other applications. Examines the economic perspective of revealing the potential value of microbial material and figuring it into socio-economic value; legal perspectives; and how to organize a fair allotment of socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders who have effectively contributed to the preservation, study, and exploitation of microbiological material. - Covers aspects of foundational information related to microbiology, microbial ecology, and diversity, as well as new advances in microbial genomics - Provides information on the utilization of microbial resources in biotechnology - Covers legislative issues and related law in biodiscovery - Fills a need for a very broad audience and is a good resource for microbiologists seeking to know the extent of microbiology approaches, the policies associated with microbiology, and potential career paths for researchers - Has significant added value due to the inclusion of comprehensive coverage of the biology, ecology, biochemistry and international legislation surrounding these applications

These best practice guidelines are intended to serve as a target for the quality management of biological resource center collections. They are the result of discussions held by OECD member countries together with a number of key partner countries ...

Plant Microbiology provides a comprehensive source of information on DNA sequencing and mapping, the newest technology and procedures in areas such as radiation hybrid mapping, FISH and specialized sequencing techniques are covered. The book also describes how transgene expression is controlled in plants and how advanced information strategies can be used to manipulate and modify the plant genome. An exciting final chapter provides and overview of all the applications of plant transformation in agriculture, medicine and industry.

Databases have revolutionized nearly every aspect of our lives. Information of all sorts is being collected on a massive scale, from Google to Facebook and well beyond. But as the amount of information in databases explodes, we are forced to reassess our ideas about what knowledge is, how it is produced, to whom it belongs, and who can be credited for producing it. Every scientist working today draws on databases to produce scientific knowledge. Databases have become more common than microscopes, voltmeters, and test tubes, and the increasing amount of data has led to major changes in research practices and profound reflections on the proper professional roles of data producers, collectors, curators, and analysts. Collecting Experiments traces the development and use of data collections, especially in the experimental life sciences, from the early twentieth century to the present. It shows that the current revolution is best understood as the coming together of two older ways of knowing—collecting and experimenting, the museum and the laboratory. Ultimately, Bruno J. Strasser argues that by serving as knowledge repositories, as well as indispensable tools for producing new knowledge, these databases function as digital museums for the twenty-first century.

Bacteria have been the dominant forms of life on Earth for the past 3.5 billion years. They rapidly evolve, constantly changing their genetic architecture through horizontal DNA transfer and other mechanisms. Consequently, it can be difficult to define individual species and determine how they are related. Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology examines how bacteria and other microbes evolve, focusing on insights from genomics-based studies. Contributors discuss the origins of new microbial populations, the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that keep species separate once they have diverged, and the challenges of constructing phylogenetic trees that accurately reflect their relationships. They describe the organization of microbial genomes, the various mutations that occur, including the birth of new genes de novo and by duplication, and how natural selection acts on those changes. The role of horizontal gene transfer as a strong driver of microbial evolution is emphasized throughout. The authors also explore the geologic evidence for early microbial evolution and describe the use of microbial evolution experiments to examine phenomena like natural selection. This volume will thus be essential reading for all microbial ecologists, population geneticists, and evolutionary biologists.

This book covers broad areas in the conservation of microorganisms. It addresses the short, medium and long-term preservation of agriculturally important microorganisms, as well as culture collections and their roles. The respective chapters address topics such as conventional approaches to bacterial, fungal and algal preservation, as well as methods and strategies for preserving recalcitrant microorganisms. Readers will also find the latest insights into the preservation of vesicular-arbuscular (VA) fungi and ecology, diversity and conservation of endophytes, and entamopathogenic fungi. Microbes of animal and dairy origin, their preservation and biosafety issues are also explored. Microorganisms are the silent and unseen majority of life on Earth, and are characterized by a high degree of genetic and metabolic diversity. It is well documented that no branch of science or society is unaffected by microbial interventions. Researchers have documented microorganisms from such extreme and unique environments as deserts and hydrothermal vents, and with specific traits that are currently being exploited in agriculture, industry, medicine and biotechnological applications. Such great potential can only be found in microorganisms. The aim of this book – the first entirely devoted to the conservation of microorganisms, and to regulatory mechanisms for access and benefits sharing as per Biological Diversity (BD) Act 2002 – is to promote awareness of our world’s microbial wealth, and to introduce readers to strategies and methodologies for the conservation of microorganisms, which could ultimately save human life on Earth.