Understanding Bioanalytical Chemistry

Book excerpt: "The title captures the ethos and content precisely. It brings basic chemistry into real life with examples that illustrate how chemical principals are inherent to bioanalytical procedures, making them accessible to readers with a background in life sciences." –Microbiology Today, July 2009 “... a good overview of the basic strategies to tackle the complexity of analysis in biological environments and provides some illustrative examples for a better understanding of the theoretical concepts... provides a fundamental introduction to the tools adopted by life and health scientists in the evolving and exciting new age of “omics” specifically applied to the diagnosis, treatment, cure and prevention of disease...” –Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, October 2009 Although chemistry is core to the life and health sciences, it is often viewed as a challenging subject. Conventional textbooks tend to present chemistry in a way that is not always easily accessible to students, particularly those coming from diverse educational backgrounds, who may not have formally studied chemistry before. This prompted the authors to write this particular textbook, taking a new, fresh and innovative approach to teaching and learning of chemistry, focusing on bioanalysis to set knowledge in context. This textbook is primarily targeted to undergraduate life and health science students, but may be a useful resource for practising scientists in a range of disciplines. In this textbook the authors have covered basic principles, terminology and core technologies, which include key modern experimental techniques and equipment used to analyse important biomolecules in diagnostic, industrial and research settings. Written by two authors with a wealth of experience in teaching, research and academic enterprise, this textbook represents an invaluable tool for students and instructors across the diverse range of biological and health science courses. Key Features: Innovative, stand alone teaching and learning resource to enhance delivery of undergraduate chemistry provision to life and health scientists. Develops student knowledge and understanding of core concepts with reference to relevant, real-life, examples. Clearly written and user-friendly, with numerous full colour illustrations, annotated images, diagrams and tables to enhance learning. Incorporates a modern approach to teaching and learning to motivate the reader and encourage student-centred learning. Dr Victor Gault has been named recipient of the Rising Star Award 2009 by the internationally acclaimed European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).