MicroRNAs

Small RNA molecules called microRNAs, which evolution has kept largely intact across species, control how genes are switched on and off. Recent work on them is reshaping biomedical research as well as the search for new drugs. Because the amount of each microRNA differs among tissues and across stages of development, surveying all of them at once can reveal control points in many biological processes.

This broad reference is meant for two overlapping audiences: students and academic researchers who want to apply microRNA methods in their own work, and scientists in biotechnology and pharmaceutical R&D who need to grasp the technology. Contributors come from both universities and industry. The book moves from the original discovery of microRNAs and their functions, through methods for detecting them, to their involvement in disease. It is unusual in pairing the basic science with practical uses in drug validation, diagnostics and therapy development.

The volume opens with forewords by Sidney Altman of Yale University, winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Victor R. Ambros of Dartmouth Medical School, who co-discovered microRNAs.