There exists an extreme variability in the biochemical properties of animal organisms. Each species, each individual, in fact each cell type of a multicellular animal has its own molecular characters. This advanced text- and reference book deals with the molecular structures of body substances and the chemical processes of metabolism for the first time throughout the whole animal kingdom from the protozoans to the higher vertebrates. The biochemical variation is explained as adaptation to particular environmental conditions or as the result of phylogenetic diversification. The fascinating insights into the fundamental mechanisms and the time course of evolution that have been gained by the analysis of molecular data are extensively described. More than 4600 actual references give the reader access to the original literature.

Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals, Second Edition, Volume I, is a major revision of the first edition prompted by the marked expansion of knowledge in the clinical biochemistry of animals. In keeping with this expansion of knowledge, this edition is comprised of two volumes. Chapters on the pancreas, thyroid, and pituitary-adrenal systems have been separated and entirely rewritten. Completely new chapters on muscle metabolism, iron metabolism, blood clotting, and gastrointestinal function have been added. All the chapters of the first edition have been revised with pertinent new information, and many have been completely rewritten. This volume contains 10 chapters and opens with a discussion of carbohydrate metabolism and associated disorders. Separate chapters follow on lipid metabolism, plasma proteins, and porphyrins. Subsequent chapters deal with liver, pancreatic, and thyroid functions; the role of the pituitary and adrenal glands in health and disease; the function of calcium, inorganic phosphorus, and magnesium metabolism in health and disease; and iron metabolism.

Comparative Biochemistry: A Comprehensive Treatise, Volume I: Sources of Free Energy focuses on the desire to provide a sound, critical, and provocative summary of knowledge in comparative biochemistry, including thermodynamics, biological systems, oxidation, visual systems, and aerobic and anaerobic reactions of inorganic substances. The selection first offers information on the introduction to comparative biochemistry and thermodynamics of living systems. Discussions focus on comparative point of views in biology and biochemistry, classical thermodynamics, reaction rates in chemical and biological systems, and thermodynamics of open systems. The text then ponders on comparative mechanisms for fatty acid oxidation; phosphoric acid anhydrides and other energy-rich compounds; and onium compounds and their biological significance. The publication examines phototropism and phototaxis and distribution and evolution of visual systems. Topics include phototropism in plants, analysis of phototropic reaction, nature of photoreceptors, role of auxin in phototropism of plants, visual systems of vertebrates, and habitat relations. The book also tackles aerobic and anaerobic reactions of inorganic substances and comparative biochemistry of glycolysis. The selection is a dependable source of data for readers interested in the sources of free energy.

This book presents various examples of how advanced fluorescence and spectroscopic analytical methods can be used in combination with computer data processing to address different biochemical questions. The main focus is on evolutionary biochemistry and the description of biochemical and metabolic issues; specifically, the use of pulse amplitude modulated fluorescence (PAM) for the functional analysis of the cellular state, as well as results obtained by means of the derivative spectroscopy method characterizing structural reorganization of a cell under the influence of external factors, are discussed. The topics presented here will be of interest to biologists, geneticists, biophysicists and biochemists, as well as experts in analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry and radio chemistry and radio activation studies with protonen and alpha-particles. It also offers a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in biological, physical and chemical disciplines whose work involves derivative spectrophotometry and PAM-fluorescence.

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a means to power the cell, machinery to carry out varied processes within the cell, a structure within which everything runs, and also governance through a web of interlocking chemical reactions. Biochemistry is the study of those reactions, the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them, and the massive macromolecules (such as DNA, cytoskeletons, proteins and carbohydrates) that form the chemical machinery and structures on which these biochemical reactions take place. It didn't take long for an understanding of the chemistry of life to turn into a desire to manipulate it. Drugs and therapies all aim to modify biochemical processes for good or ill: Penicillin, derived from mould, stops bacteria making their cell walls. Aspirin, with its origins in willow bark, inhibits enzymes involved in inflammatory responses. A few nanograms of botulinum toxin (botox), can kill by preventing the release of neurotransmitters from the ends of nerves and so leads to paralysis and death, or give a wrinkle free forehead (if administered in very tiny quantities).This Very Short Introduction discusses the key concepts of biochemistry, as well as the historical figures in the field and the molecules they studied, before considering the current science and innovations in the field, and the interaction between biochemistry, biotechnology, and synthetic biology. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Covering theoretical methods and computational techniques in biomolecular research, this book focuses on approaches for the treatment of macromolecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, and bilayer membranes. It uses concepts in free energy calculations, conformational analysis, reaction rates, and transition pathways to calculate and interpret b