Biosciences 2000

Assembled from contributions by prominent researchers, this volume surveys where medicine and the life sciences stand as the millennium turns, and where several fields are likely to move over roughly the next ten years. Each chapter offers a broad overview from a specialist's standpoint.

The collection gives the most attention to cancer, microbial infection and immunology, which are advancing especially quickly. It also ranges widely across reproductive health technology, transplanting animal tissue into humans, drug resistance, magnetic resonance as a non-invasive diagnostic tool, new membrane technology and carbon nanotubes. Contributors include a UNESCO piece on the biosciences and global perspectives, along with essays on virology, vaccine development for persistent infections, xenografts, anticancer treatment, multidrug resistance, the role of oxygen in cells, genetic testing and model membranes.

The book is written for biochemists, cell and molecular biologists, immunologists, microbiologists, clinicians and oncologists. Graduate students deciding on a research direction may find it a useful place to explore the options.