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Reviews of the Second Edition
"In this book, Andy Baxevanis and Francis Ouellette . . . have undertaken the difficult task of organizing the noesis in this field in a logical progress and presenting it in a digestible form. And they have done an splendid job. This fine text will make a major affect on biological exploration and, in turn, on progress in biomedicine. We are all in their debt."
--Eric Lander, from the Foreword to the Second Edition
"The editors and the chapter writers of this book are to be applauded for supplying biologists with lucid and comprehensive descriptions of necessary topics in bioinformatics. This book is easy to read, highly informative, and surely timely. It is most highly commended for students and for traditionalisti investigators alike, for anybody who needs to recognise how to access and use the data derived in and from genomic sequencing projects."
--Trends in Genetics
"It is an splendid ordinary bioinformatics text and reference, perchance even the best presently available . . . Congratulations to the authors, editors, and publisher for manufacturing a weighty, authoritative, readable, and beautiful book."
--Briefings in Bioinformatics
"This book, written by the top scientists in the field of bioinformatics, is the perfective choice for each molecular biology laboratory."
--The Quarterly Review of Biology
This completely revised version of a world-renowned bestseller provides readers with a practical guide covering the full scope of key conceptions in bioinformatics, from databases to predictive and comparative algorithms. Using applicable biological examples, the book provides background on and systems for using numerous of the most powerful and commonly applied computational approaches for biological discovery. This Third Edition reinforces key conceptions that have stood the test of time while making the reader conscious of new and crucial developments in this fast-moving field. With a new full-color and enlarged page design, Bioinformatics, Third Edition offers the most readable, up-to-date, and exhaustive introduction to the field for biologists.
This new edition features:
* New chapters on genomic databases, predictive methods using RNA sequences, sequence polymorphisms, protein structure prediction, intermolecular interactions, and proteomic approaches for protein identification
* Detailed worked examples illustrating the strategic use of the conceptions staged in each chapter, along with a collection of expanded,more stringent problem sets suitable for classroom use
* Special topic boxes and appendices highlighting experimental schemes and modern concepts
* Annotated reference lists, comprehensive lists of applicable Web resources, and an broad glossary of ordinarily used terms in bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics
Bioinformatics, Third Edition is necessary reading for researchers, instructors, and students of all levels in molecular biology and bioinformatics, as well as for investigators involved in genomics, clinical research, proteomics, and computational biology.

Review"…an great accomplishment and will be a sound resource for bioengineers, cellular and molecular biotechnologists, and bioinformatists." (Annals of Biomedical Engineering, June 2006)

"…does an splendid occupation of tracking developments and supplying an account that will be accessible to working biologists. This must be on the bookshelf of each molecular biologist." (The Quarterly Review of Biology, December 2005)

"...fully delivers on it is promise of supplying a utile and practical guide...I found it to be the most utile book on bioinformatics I have seen and commend it very highly." (ASM News, September 2005)

“…not only an magnificent guidebook … but also a supreme instructing and reference material.” (ChemBioChem, 2005; Vol. 6, 6)

"…not only an splendid guidebook for bioinformatics users but also…a supreme instructing and reference material." (ChemBioChem, July 4, 2005)

"…the most modified bioinformatics book that offers expert perceptivities into cutting-edge tools of modern computational biology and stands out from a lot of current texts on the subject." (American Journal of Human Biology, May/June 2005)

"…The book and the attached web links together give readers a rich resource of topics covered..." (Statistical Methods in Medical Research, Vol.14, No.1, 2005)

Review"A utile introduction to biologists, with a exceptionally strong introduction to the tools available from the NCBI."
—Russ B. Altman, MD, PhD, Stanford University Medical Center

From the PublisherAs the Human Genome Project proceeds to generate raw sequence information, the most successful scientists will be those who may provide a biological interpretation of that data. This practical guide helps the molecular biologist design and implement a successful sequence analysis strategy, utilizing the overpowering array of tools available, including Internet resources.

Most helpful client reviews

40 of 44 persons found the following review helpful.
from NATURE STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY review (Dec 99)
By A
"The novice user of bioinformatics tools needs a guide that answers assorted rudimentary questions - what are these tools designed for and what may they do; what are their limitations; how does one access them, and where may one find further information. For each of the basic sub-fields of bioinformatics, Bioinformatics provides a survey, a list of world wide web addresses (URLs), and a list of monographs and reviews to which the reader may go for further information. Each chapter covers rudimentary definitions and makes no assumptions regarding prior knowledge.... The book provides a wide overview of the basic tools for sequence analysis. It is a good starting point for the reader who wants to learn when it comes to the types of tools applied in bioinfomatics and how to get started. For biologists approaching this subject for the primary time, it will be a very utile handbook to keep on the shelf after the basi reading, close to the computer." --Terry Gaasterland, The Rockefeller University

47 of 57 persons found the following review helpful.
Mileading, disappointing, useless
By A
Baxevanis and Ouellete apparently convinced a good deal of of their colleagues from NIH (and a few others) to publish user manuals for chosen computer programs in the form of edited book. The idea itself is priceless provided that the finish collection of significant software is described competently and honestly. Unfortunately the content of this book is fixed largely to the software developed by NCBI and to analyses performed on the UNIX-based workstations. There is closely no coverage of other bioinformatics software (except for the GCG package which holds software and database tools mutual with NCBI anyway.)

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the book is lack of description of the fundamentals of sequence analysis. With the exception of Chapter 10 one cannot learn sequence analysis from this volume. Nor would it be advisable to use it as a desk reference to find suitable citations of published sequence analysis work. A vast majority of references cited is biased. Merits of the citations' content do not seem to matter to the editors and that makes their book closely useless for the would-be practitioners.

I hasten to admonish that the book appears to be mainly a software marketing material and not an venture to educate or other than as supposed or expected empower the reader. I am amazed that the material covered by the book is not circulated free of charge thru Internet or other publicly available means. 9 out of 16 subscribers (I refer here to the initial edition) are actively working for the US Government at the time of writing. Still their chapters appear to be copyrighted by the publisher rather of being in public domain. But these are all minor troubles comparing to the misgivings of the book's content brought up in the introductory two paragraphs of this note.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
Poor as an introduction to the field
By A
The intention of the book appears to be to provide a wide overview of current public bioinformatics tools. If one is fascinated to find pointers to software that addresses a specific bioinformatics question, the book does a reasonable occupation of showing what was available at the end of 2000. However, this approach has two major shortcomings. First, the principles and main scientific ideas affiliated with each covered area are only glossed over. Second, there is a chronic lack of depth in the presentment of any peculiar method. Because of these two difficulties the book is useless to the novice and makes a poor choice as a textbook for an basi bioinformatics course. The best chapter is #14 on phylogenetic analysis, which emphasizes the systems of selective information analysis and potential misinterpretations of the results. An embarrassing addition to the second edition is a chapter on Perl, which I doubt will be utile to any type of reader. Another chapter, which would have been better left out is #1, an introduction to the internet. It may have been suitable for the introductory edition, but the material is too simplistic for the present.

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