Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Development of Molecular Biotechnology -- Fundamental Technologies -- Production of Recombinant Proteins -- Molecular Diagnostics -- Protein Therapeutics -- Nucleic Acids as Therapeutic Agents -- Vaccines -- Industrial and Environmental Uses of Recombinant Microorganisms -- Large-Scale Production of Proteins and Nucleic Acids from Recombinant Microorganisms -- Genetic Engineering of Plants: Methodology -- Transgenic Plants -- Transgenic Animals -- Molecular Biotechnology and Society -- Amino Acids of Proteins and Their Designations.

"Each chapter opens with an outline of topics and concludes with a summary and list of review questions to sharpen students' critical thinking skills. All of the key ideas in the book are illustrated by the more than 600 full-color figures and elaborated in more than 100 tables. After introducing molecular biotechnology as a scientific and economic venture in Chapter 1, the next two chapters explain the detailed methodologies of molecular biotechnology. These chapters provide a solid scientific base for the remainder of the book. Chapters 4 to 8 present examples of applications for microbial molecular biotechnology covering such topics as diagnostic techniques, both protein and nucleic acid therapeutic agents, vaccines, bioremediation of pollutants, the production of metabolites, and biomass utilization by industry. Chapter 9 describes some of the key components of large-scale fermentation processes using recombinant microorganisms. Chapters 10 to 12 describe the molecular manipulation of plants and animals addressing both fundamental approaches and a wide range of applications, with a particular emphasis on agricultural improvements The book concludes in Chapter 13 with a discussion of the interaction of molecular biotechnology with society including some discussion of controversies that have occurred as a consequence of this technology, coverage of the regulation of molecular biotechnology and patents"--