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Substantially revising and updating the information from the widely-used previous editions, this book offers a valuable overview of current chemical processes, products, and practices. No other source offers as much data on the chemistry, engineering, economics, and infrastructure of the industry.

In addition to thoroughly revised material on chemical economics, safety, statistical control methods, and waste management, chapters on industrial cell culture and industrial fermentation expand the treatment of biochemical engineering.

Sectors covered include: plastics, rubber, adhesives, textiles, pharmaceuticals, soap, coal, dyes, chlor-alkali, pigments, chemical explosives, petrochemicals, natural and industrial gas, synthetic nitrogen products, fats, sulfur, phosphorus, wood, and sweeteners.

Comprehensive and easy to use, the tenth edition of Riegel's Handbook of Industrial Chemistry is an essential working tool for chemical and process engineers, chemists, plant and safety managers, and regulatory agency personnel.

Product Description
Completely revised text that reflects to emergent trends and cutting-edge advances in pharmaceutical biotechnology, this Third Edition provides a well-balanced framework for understanding every major aspect of pharmaceutical biotechnology, including drug development, production, dosage forms, administration, and therapeutic developments. New chapters cover evolving areas regarding biopharmaceuticals, including oligonucleotides, siRNA and various monoclonal antibodies, immunogenicity, gene therapy, and the regulatory issues factoring into the biopharmaceutical approval process

Setting the standard for biopharmaceutical education in the 21st century, this title discusses general concepts in the production and clinical pharmacology of monoclonal antibodies, as well as their therapeutic application in cancer treatment, immunosuppressive therapy related to organ transplantation, and anti-inflammatory therapy…describes regulatory requirements of biotechnology drug products to receive approval to market…presents challenges and approaches for overcoming an undesired immune response to protein therapeutics…addresses the discovery and clinical development of the new biotechnology-produced drugs ... Read more

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Process engineering can potentially provide the means to develop economically viable and environmentally friendly technologies for the production of fuel ethanol. Focusing on a key tool of process engineering, Process Synthesis for Fuel Ethanol Production is a comprehensive guide to the design and analysis of the most advanced technologies for fuel ethanol production from feedstocks. It describes how process systems engineering can be applied to fuel ethanol production to achieve new levels of efficiency according to technical, economic, and environmental criteria.

Drawing on the authors’ more than 15 years of process engineering and ethanol research, the book first focuses on liquid biofuels, before examining the role of process synthesis in the rapid and high-tech analysis and design of complex biotechnological processes. It then describes various types of feedstocks, including sugars, starchy crops, lignocellulosic biomass, and microorganisms, as well as hydrolysis technologies, such as saccharification. The authors cover the fuel ethanol production technologies for different feedstocks, the new technological innovations based on process integration to reduce energy consumption, and the environmental issues of bioethanol production. They also discuss the technological configurations for fuel ethanol production in the industry and the possible factors affecting food security with fuel ethanol production and consumption.

Supported by case studies that include calculations and discussions of results, this book uses a process engineering approach to explore the analysis and development of fuel ethanol production from different feedstocks. It shows how accurate analysis and precise design, along with responsible government policies, can lead to fair and sustainable development of energy crops worldwide.

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Designed to inform and inspire the next generation of plant biotechnologists

Plant Biotechnology and Genetics explores contemporary techniques and applications of plant biotechnology, illustrating the tremendous potential this technology has to change our world by improving the food supply. As an introductory text, its focus is on basic science and processes. It guides students from plant biology and genetics to breeding to principles and applications of plant biotechnology. Next, the text examines the critical issues of patents and intellectual property and then tackles the many controversies and consumer concerns over transgenic plants. The final chapter of the book provides an expert forecast of the future of plant biotechnology.

Each chapter has been written by one or more leading practitioners in the field and then carefully edited to ensure thoroughness and consistency. The chapters are organized so that each one progressively builds upon the previous chapters. Questions set forth in each chapter help students deepen their understanding and facilitate classroom discussions.

Inspirational autobiographical essays, written by pioneers and eminent scientists in the field today, are interspersed throughout the text. Authors explain how they became involved in the field and offer a personal perspective on their contributions and the future of the field. The text's accompanying CD-ROM offers full-color figures that can be used in classroom presentations with other teaching aids available online.

This text is recommended for junior- and senior-level courses in plant biotechnology or plant genetics and for courses devoted to special topics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also an ideal reference for practitioners. ... Read more

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In The Business of Bioscience, What goes into making a Biotechnology Product you will be introduced to key aspects of the biotech and product development process. This includes: the characteristics of a biotech entrepreneur, legally establishing your company, raising all forms of capital, selecting development milestones, dealing with personnel issues, the significance and impact of a business model, market strategies and their impact on raising money, regulatory compliance issues, and why you must manage differently at different organizational life stages. Each chapter provides helpful background information yet quickly moves to in-depth discussions of these subjects so that those with more experience in these areas will also benefit. Knowledge is essential for success, and most biotech entrepreneurs are very knowledgeable; however, a distinguishing difference between a good biotech leader and a great biotech leader is having wisdom—the ability to apply specific knowledge at the right time, in the right situation. This aspect is an overarching theme of this book.

Customer Reviews (4)

Bioscience in the trenches

Dr. Shimasaki details actual experience (good and bad) of life science product development and funding.The business model is not easy but the rewards are significant for those willing to handle the ups and downs of the business.As a participant in some of the anonymized deals he described, the narrative is accurate and frank.Sometimes things aren't pretty and the author characterizes these issues in an accurate and insightful manner.The raising money section is written for a non-financial reader which is sorely needed for his targeted readership.Highly educated researchers spending lifetimes in the laboratory are sorely unprepared for monetizing thier invention and having a meaningful financial outcome.Life sciences businesses are capital intensive and the author does a masterful job of putting it all in a percpective that should level the playing field for a life science (or any other) inventor.

Great Teaching Tool for Biotech Entrepreneurs
I thoroughly enjoyed this informative, well written book on the business of bioscience. As a scientist who is involved in the interface of research, education and the business of biotechnology, I had to learn most of these concepts on my own over the past 15 years. As director of the Biotechnology Program, I work with graduate students in the Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology graduate program at the University of California, Davis and many of them are interested in entrepreneurism. They often ask for reading materials on this subject, but there are very few books written with a student in mind. This book is one of just a few books on the market that answers the basic questions as to how to get started. Dr. Craig Shimasaki brings much creditability due to his academic training, experience working in the biotech industry and success in company building. He can walk the talk! It is obvious that he is interested in the reader being able to apply the concepts. I really liked the summary paragraphs at the end of each chapter as well as the discussion of putting the right team in place for the various stages of the company. My only issue is the price. We need an academic discount!

Start your own biotech
Reading it cover to cover was well worthwhile. I think for me it was really very useful to get an idea of what the business side has to deal with in more detail - warts and all. Certainly I would highly recommend this book to anyone in the lab even contemplating starting their owncompany. Even a fresh PhD who is undecided about what to do next should read it because I think it would open their eyes to other directions they could take. I liked how the author interspersed his own experiences into the book. There were many points were I felt this could be one of those inspirational books that a generation of bio-entrepreneurs will look back on and say this was the book that kick started them in that direction and helped them start a biotech. The book gives a solid basis to the business of biotech.

Great advice from a seasoned executive
As a fellow startup executive, I still learned quite a bit from this book...Well done. ... Read more

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A state-of-the-art account of research in algal production and utilization.The book explores in detail all steps of the subject, from the preparation of stock cultures to the growth in large outdoor ponds.Dr. Becker provides a compilation of the different methods employed worldwide for the artificial cultivation of different microalgae, including recipes for culture media, description of outdoor and indoor cultivation systems, as well as harvesting and processing methods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential background reading
This book is a clear, concise summary of work in the general field of microalgae through about 1994.As such, it is required reading for all those looking to use algae for biofuels or specialty nutrients, etc.Don't look for the latest information; that's not the purpose of this volume.It does however give a very thorough and solid base from which to build.The level of writing is appropriate for advanced undergraduates and above; unlike some authors, Becker has a sense of humor that is both surprising and delightful to find in a scientific text.For me, a non-biologist, this was exactly what I needed in my position as an officer of an algae-based biofuel company. ... Read more

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In "Environmental Biotechnology-Principles and Applications", the authors connect the many different facets of environmental biotechnology. The book develops the basic concepts and quantitative tools in the first six chapters, which comprise the principles. The text consistently calls upon those principles as it describes the applications in Chapters 7 through 16. The theme is that all microbiological processes behave in ways that are understandable, predictable, and unified. At the same time, each application has its own special features that must be understood. The special features do not overturn or sidestep the common principles. Instead, they complement the principles and are most profitably understood in light of the principles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Right price for a decent quality
The quality of the pages is not great, but the book itself is helpful and great!
Seller is really fast!

great resource
R&M is a great resource if you are interested in learning more about the biological aspects of weastewater engineering.

Excelent Book!!!!
I used this book during my Master in Science (Biofilm modelling). The theory contained in this book is up to date and every chapter in it contains valuable information. It was of great help, chapters are well organized and it covers all important aspects of environmental biotechnology.
A must have for every person related to environmental engineering or sciences. ... Read more

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3000 new references added since the first editionGives information necessary to produce embryos totally through in vitro techniques ... Read more

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Appropriate for a wide range of disciplines, from biology to non-biology, law and nursing majors, DNA and Biotechnology uses a straightforward and comprehensive writing style that gives the educated layperson a survey of DNA by presenting a brief history of genetics, a clear outline of techniques that are in use, and highlights of breakthroughs in hot topic scientific discoveries.

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Listen to a short interview with Robert Paarlberg
Host: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane

Heading upcountry in Africa to visit small farms is absolutely exhilarating given the dramatic beauty of big skies, red soil, and arid vistas, but eventually the two-lane tarmac narrows to rutted dirt, and the journey must continue on foot. The farmers you eventually meet are mostly women, hardworking but visibly poor. They have no improved seeds, no chemical fertilizers, no irrigation, and with their meager crops they earn less than a dollar a day. Many are malnourished.

Nearly two-thirds of Africans are employed in agriculture, yet on a per-capita basis they produce roughly 20 percent less than they did in 1970. Although modern agricultural science was the key to reducing rural poverty in Asia, modern farm science—including biotechnology—has recently been kept out of Africa.

In Starved for Science Robert Paarlberg explains why poor African farmers are denied access to productive technologies, particularly genetically engineered seeds with improved resistance to insects and drought. He traces this obstacle to the current opposition to farm science in prosperous countries. Having embraced agricultural science to become well-fed themselves, those in wealthy countries are now instructing Africans—on the most dubious grounds—not to do the same.

In a book sure to generate intense debate, Paarlberg details how this cultural turn against agricultural science among affluent societies is now being exported, inappropriately, to Africa. Those who are opposed to the use of agricultural technologies are telling African farmers that, in effect, it would be just as well for them to remain poor.

Customer Reviews (4)

Starved for Science or Hungry for the Truth?
Robert Paarlberg provides his panacea for global poverty and hunger in his latest book Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept out of Africa.Through the book, Paarlberg constructs a well supported and polarizing argument describing how genetically modified (GM) agriculture can alleviate Africa's widespread hunger, yet the technology is being denied to those that most need it.He provides extensive support for his points, sometimes at the expense of being redundant in order to fully back his claims, yet the writing in general is captivating and better attention retaining than most scientific writing.

Paarlberg characterizes the global great skepticism and even fear of GM agriculture, in part due to the fact that westerncountries are rich and do not need further agricultural science to ensure sufficient food supplies (which has contributed to a decrease in public sector agricultural research and foreign assistance overall#.Paarlberg goes on to describe how the general aversion has been projected onto African leaders causing them to reject the food their countrymen need so badly.Paarlberg cites unfounded propaganda of the dangers of genetically modified organisms #GMOs), international trade standards, and the threat of rescindment of financial assistance by European governments and NGOs as the leverage used to exert their influence on African leaders, vilifying the governments, lobbyists, and NGOs alike in the process.

Yet the debate is not so clear cut.Paarlberg dramatically reproaches an unsubstantiated global opposition towards GMOs, saying that there has yet to be any evidence presented to suggest their potential dangers and thus no scientific justification for their rejection.However, while some have agreed with Paarlberg that GM foods are safe, it is not due to lack of evidence to the contrary.If anything, the reality is that there is far from a clear conclusion on the matter.Paarlberg also neglects any mention of the substantial political support for GM agriculture.He asserts that genetic engineering is the `all or nothing' solution excluding several non-GM approaches and grossly generalizing the African continent.

Paarlberg's book brings a great deal of awareness to a situation many would otherwise know nothing about, and one which may hold the key to Africa's future.Genetic modification is a subject that is in general plagued by stigma and politics and it is important that the debate be brought to light in order to make well informed progress.Thus, this book is an important read for anyone concerned with African development and relations, foreign policy, or agriculture, and furthermore for the population in general hoping to become more informed of the world around them.

It is equally important, however, that dogmatic stance and vilification of the opposition do more than sensationalizing the situation and instead provide a well balanced case.Readers should be aware that Paarlberg's book provides an excellent summary, but only of one side of the argument.Further reading is necessary to gain a full understanding of the situation.

Very narrow and pro-corporate view of science
The central premise of this book is that those who oppose the wholesale conversion of the world's vast agricultural biodiversity to a small handful of genetically modified commercial crop varieties are somehow anti-science.

Ecology is a science. It offers us numerous cautionary tales about simplistic interventions in complex systems. It suggests that a stable long term food system will utilize more rather than fewer species and varieties of plants. Greatly increasing the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer would likely increase African yields in the short term, but it requires fossil fuel imputs that are clearly not sustainable and likely contributing to climate destabilization (a serious problem facing future Africans).

Ecology demonstrates why simplistic poisons, like Monsanto's RoundUp, don't offer long lasting control because weeds and insect pests evolve quickly in response to the extreme environmental pressures the poisons supply. In the brief history of GMO agriculture there is already considerable evidence of genetic adaptation by several important weed species.

Agriculture is a craft that has been developed in real world conditions over ten thousand years. In the phrase of British biologist Colin Tudge, what we need is 'science assisted craft', not the replacement of that essentially biological craft by a crude industrial technology.

The precautionary principle argues for testing new ideas more thoroughly and on a small scale because of the likelihood of unintended consequences. To think that growing our food with synthetic fertilizers and patented GMOs is more scientific than a broad based organic agriculture is akin to arguing that amphetamines provide more energy than bread.

Feels like half of the story
Robert Paarlberg (RP) seems sincere in his desire to help solve the problem of African hunger. Even though he advocates doing so using technologies owned by Monsanto, Synergen or Du Pont/Pioneer, he's candid that these companies aren't likely to win popularity contests. If, as some might suspect, the book is propaganda for those companies, it's unusually sophisticated. Nonetheless, I'm troubled by some of the book's argumentative techniques, and especially by its failure to engage with some pertinent issues. Even if sincerely motivated, it comes across less like a balanced book about policy and more like a legal brief, a style of writing in which you skate over or even ignore the weak points of your argument rather than confront them.

1. RP's argument focuses on the health and environmental aspects of using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for food. Europeans consumers don't see much benefit for those foods, and, according to surveys, are even more ignorant than Americansabout the science behind them. Moreover, the EU has adopted an unusually rigorous precautionary approach to regulating the foods, contrasted with the American one, which is more welcoming. Europe is much closer in psychological as well as physical distance to Africa than is the US, is more commercially connected to African agriculture, and also supplies 3x as much aid as the US. Consequently, the European approach to impeding the spread of GMOs by regulation has been the role model for African governments -- even though, in RP's view, African countries (i) need GMOs to feed their people and (ii) are pretty lax in regulating everything else. NGOs that are opposed to Green Revolution-style agriculture, which uses a lot of fertilizers, make things worse. So does the World Bank, which has cut back drastically on agricultural aid. Nonetheless, African governments themselves must shoulder much of the blame, for their "curious failure" to invest in science-based agriculture (e.g., @84).

2. Here's where some odd omissions begin. (A) RP alludes in passing to the World Bank's shift to structural reform in lieu of direct aid. He also mentions that many African countries export crops grown for European consumers. And he mentions the "curious failure" to invest. But he doesn't connect the dots. For many years, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund forced debtor governments to prioritize debt repayment. Exports were necessary to earn dollars and other foreign currencies to pay off Western lenders. Payments to farmers, and investment in agricultural and transportation infrastructure fell precipitously as a result. (See, e.g., Walden Bello's article in The Nation, 2008/05/15.) The "curious failure" was due at least in part to pressure from Western financial institutions. Nor does RP mention the impact of the WTO and other regional trade treaties on local agriculture in poorer countries, which had to open their economies to imports esp. from the US. To say nothing of the civil wars, government corruption and other problems in Africa that might distract governments from agricultural policy. I don't understand why he omits these subjects, since they don't necessarily detract from his theory of EU influence.

(B) On the other hand, his discussion of issues relating to intellectual property rights (IPR) is less forthright. He dismisses the issue by claiming that most companies are willing to license royalty-free in the poorest countries since the money they could make is so small (@115). But in fact this wasn't Monsanto's plan for a bigger-market product, GMO drought-tolerant maize; their generosity manifested itself instead in their lobbying to get paid from the deep pockets of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (see @174). (Even if markets in Africa are small, the IPR issue is especially sensitive in countries that have huge poor populations, like China and India. RP points out that multinationals have licensed GMO technologies to local joint ventures in those countries; that isn't the same thing as letting farmers off the hook from buying seeds plus Monsanto fertilizer each year. He also doesn't mention the increasing number of suicides by small farmers in India associated with the spread of GMO cotton cultivation, which has been documented by V. Shiva and others.)

RP omits any mention of the WTO's highly controversial TRIPS agreement, which requires member countries to recognize GMO patents. He also omits any mention of the UPOV agreement on plant varieties, and the pressures the US and other OECD countries bring to bear for "TRIPS+" provisions (i.e., provisons that provide even stronger IPR protection than TRIPS -- thereby benefiting the "1st World" country) when negotiating bilateral treaties. See e.g. the outstanding volume edited by G. Tansey and T. Rajotte, "The Future Control of Food" (Earthscan 2008). See also the work of John Barton at Stanford Law School, who has shown that these treaty provisions tend to benefit only multinationals, and not local biotech industries. RP himself supplies the astonishing figures that while US farmers get 20% of the "economic surplus" from GMO soybeans, Monsanto itself gets 45% of this surplus (@34). That's a recommendation?

3. Some of RP's other arguments amount to little more than name-calling. Those who oppose GMO crops because of the involvement of multinationals are labeled "agrarian romantics and populists" (@79). The ranks of the proponents of organic food and opponents of chemical use also include a "former hippie" (@62), an "accountant who grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan" (@72), a "thorough mystic" who believed in Atlantis (@id.), a "graduate of a Quaker college in Indiana" (@104), and an "aquatic biologist [and] literary celebrity" who just happened to be Rachel Carson. Credible critics like Carson and Jim Hightower (whom RP does at least call "talented" @69) are inserted into a parade of putative amateurs and loonies, for a kind of guilt by association. The notion that hunger is not caused by a shortage of food is called "the Greenpeace line" (@105); you won't find any mention in this book of the first person to put forward this idea and to provide evidence to support it, 1998 Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (see, e.g., Sen's classic "Poverty and Famines" (Oxford UP 1981)). On the other side of the divide is rational science, as represented by "innovators" Monsanto & al.(@33), and by a "scientific consensus" evidenced by citations to just 2 articles (@29-30).

4. RP's argument that European attitudes have influenced policy in Africa is quite plausible. But it's also only part of the story. RP quotes an African activist as saying "Yes, we are starving, but we are saying no to the food the Americans are forcing on our throats" (@142). RP's response to this seems to be to shout "But that's not rational!," coupled with a kind of Freedom Fries discourse about the bad Europeans. By skating over the political issues related to trade and financial policy, he misses a chance to understand the African view as a rational political response to a history of US heavy-handedness. Nor does he offer any recommendations for how the US can reclaim influence in Africa, beyond a wistful "if only" sort of sentiment: If only those African governments would respect science and buy the great new stuff from our American corporate innovators... An interesting but ultimately frustrating book.

Truths beyond popular culture
Friday, June 13, 2008 - Feminist Review.org

As a mom who does what I can to buy organic food for my family, I completely understand the general distaste most of us have for genetically modified (GM) foods. The very thought of vegetables altered by scientists in labs seems creepy and somehow inherently wrong, doesn't it? But when I read Starved for Science, I quickly realized that such a romanticized and emotional standpoint in such a critical debate as starvation is not only uninformed, it is just plain irresponsible. I also realized that, whether we like it or not, most of us are already eating GM foods on a daily basis.

In plain language and with plentiful sources to back up his positions, Paarlberg describes how in first world countries, where food is plentiful and obesity more of a problem than starvation, people can afford to pine for the days of small neighborhood farms - and can turn up their noses at the agribusiness and subsequent science that has allowed us to take for granted having not only enough to eat, but a wide choice in what and where we get our food. In Europe, the negative public opinion toward genetically modified organisms (GMO's) has led to labeling and bans on imports suspected to be "contaminated" by genetically altered seeds. Greenpeace and many NGO's are working actively to keep African farmers on small plots of land using techniques that date back thousands of years, but to the detriment and hardship of those very farmers.

Paarlberg describes how rich countries have come to fear and dislike GMO's, stopping funding and support easily where food is in no shortage, and yet when it is convenient, still continue to fund their use in the pharmaceutical industry where a longevity benefit can be gained. And governments in African countries situated in urban areas that are highly influenced by European bias, both in cultural influence and monetary flow, follow suit. Therefore, they are not developing their own programs to find strains of seeds that could resist drought, and it isn't worth enough money to anyone else to do so for them.

The majority of small farms in Africa are currently run by women, as men often leave to find other jobs in mines or more urban areas to supplement family incomes. Children stay out of school to help with the farming, and they do it all with wooden tools and poorly fed animal labor. Green movements in China and India have brought these countries to a position where starvation in no longer such a pressing issue; however, in Africa the problem is worse than ever.

Paarlberg admits to having kept his research a bit under wraps until now, knowing the reaction he would get from his own circle of friends and colleagues. It could be said that being `socially conscious' has taken on certain assumptions (and presumptions) among the wealthier strata of our urban world with a borg-like uniformity, and in the case of poverty in Africa, maintaining a position of being purely organic could easily be likened to saying "let them eat cake."

Review by Jennifer M. Wilson ... Read more

Product Description
Building Biotechnology helps readers start and manage biotechnology companies and understand the business of biotechnology. This acclaimed book describes the convergence of scientific, political, regulatory, and commercial factors that define the scope of biotechnology. In addition to its popularity among business professionals and scientists seeking to apply their skills to biotechnology, Building Biotechnology has also been adopted as a course text in more than fifteen advanced biotechnology programs including MBA programs at UC Irvine, Tepper, and Schulich; the Johns Hopkins biotechnology MS/MBA program; and extension programs at Berkeley and UC San Francisco. This second edition significantly expands upon the foundation laid by the first, updating case law and business models in this dynamic industry and adding significantly more case studies, informative figures and tables. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Very informative overview of the biotech industry
Great book for anyone considering or pursuing a career in biotech/pharma. It covers the basic biology, business and regulatory processes of the industry in a way that is very digestable for a wide array of readers with different backgrounds (i.e. scientists, business professionals, clinicians etc.)It's probably most appropriate for bioscience/business/medical/pharm students, professionals who are fairly new to the industry or to those who already work in the industry but would like to learn a bit more about the others areas of the sector that play significant roles in the research, development & eventually marketing of therapeutic medicines.

Great text on many levels.
I have always been interested in the link between a good idea and successful business.This well written text supplies readers with a great overview of biotech, as well as nicely focused examples of the history of the field.
I spent a nice Saturday on the beach reading this book not knowing exactly what to expect.I received an easy to follow enjoyable read that was informative.I ended up reading the entire book twice as well as a number of select chapters numerous times.Each time a picked up the book I got something new out of it.
I would strongly recommend this for any Biotech professional as well as interested MBA students/professionals.It pulls together nicely a number of very important parts to creating a successful start up company (biotech included)
As a scientist my ungood grammar and lack of a more creative summary don't do this outstanding book justice.Worth every penny of $60.

Good idea, but fall short on quality.
There are numerous typos, probably one every chapter.The idea behind this book is great, however the author has a very difficult way of explaining the concepts leaving you reading and re-reading sentences over and over again.There needs to be more depth, and a professional review to correct grammer, typo's, and perhaps write more coherently.

The book is good, I would own it, but it really needs major improvments.

Good book for a quick, concise overview of the biotech industry
I bought this book for a biotech project management class aside from the required books for the course and found it more helpful than any of the required books (not on project management, but as far as understanding the biotech industry). It provides a very good overview of the biotechnology industry that would be helpful for almost anyone touching this field - investors, professionals considering working in the field, patients considering a new drug therapy or participating in a clinical trial, doctors...I would recommend this book as an excellent first read to get the "lay of the land" followed up by more in-depth research in areas you need/want to know more about. By the way, my whole team ended up using the book to help them each prepare their part of our final project, which was a product development plan that took a novel cancer drug from phase 1 through commercialization. Thus you can see the scope of the book is quite broad and yet direct, the book is only 200 pages plus several useful Appendices (e.g. one is on careers in biotech and another provides and index of websites for different biotech areas).

Book Quality
This is in response to the review stating that a book was bound upside down.I would like inform everyone that this was an isolated printer error and in no way reflects the Publishers attention to detail or concerns for quality.Occasionally a make-ready (set-up) copy slips though which is the likely scenario in this case.We (the printer) take full responsibility for any inconvenience or skewed review. ... Read more

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This indispensable guide provides a roadmap to the broad and varied career development opportunities in bioengineering, biotechnology, and related fields. Eminent practitioners lay out career paths related to academia, industry, government and regulatory affairs, healthcare, law, marketing, entrepreneurship, and more. Lifetimes of experience and wisdom are shared, including "war stories," strategies for success, and discussions of the authors’ personal views and motivations.

Customer Reviews (1)

A companion for bioengineering/biotechnology students and engineers
Hello,

I am studying a bioengineering Master at EPFL in Switzerland.

I found this book really helpful and giving a broad preview of the spectrum of different professions of the field. This kind of information is kind of hard to get without being able to meet the specialists. This book offer such information.

I also liked very much the parts where the ethics, vision and goals of bioengineering are explored by the writers. It gives a wider perspective of the "why" of bioengineering and its usefulness for society.

To me, this book is a masterpiece and I intend to read it again along my career from time to time.

As said in the title, I recommend it to bioengineers and biotechnologists as a mirror on their field. Such a mirror usually ones gets only after 10 years or so of experiences and encounters.

Enjoy ! ... Read more

Product Description
Understanding Biotechnology offers an introduction to biotechnology that is balanced, accurate, current, thorough, and accessible to non-specialists and professionals alike. It begins with the field's history and key principles, then reviews every area of research, including cloning, gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, molecular markers, forensic DNA, bioremediation, and biodiversity. It presents detailed coverage of biosafety and ethics, plus a full chapter on bioterrorism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Quick book delivery
Good read, covers the basics. The delivery was very fast. Think it was ordered on a Tuesday afternoon and delivered by Thursday with expedited shipping.

Informative But Hard On The Layman
Covering topics like genetic engineering, cloning, gene therapy, forensics and bioremediation, this is a highly informative book that not only deals with the science but the laws, social and economic implications of biotechnology.

For those interested in knowing more about these topics before they invest in biotechnology, this book is packed with plenty of useful information. However, the information is presented in a technical, not very reader-friendly way.

I suggest keeping it as as reference book and zooming in on specific topics when you need information on them.

An Objective, Thorough Misfire on an Important Science
I just finished reading this book for an independent novel project for my Biology 104 course.Throughout thereading of this grammatical-error-strewn book, I realized something.This book had no real-world implications.It was written for the common person to understand biotechnology in their daily lives.However, the book flowed at such an esoteric level, explaining only a quarter of the bio-heavy terms it used, that it was impossible to understand unless you were a bio major.Then I realized: if you're a bio major, you've already understood these concepts.Again, no real world applications.

To make matters at hand worse, the book was incredibly dull.Most of the topics it covered were explained so dully, with such drab examples, that I continually fell asleep.I won't mention that I was reclining in a, well, recliner.But it was pretty mundane.The diagrams and pictures in this book are a joke.One is Pacman eating a blob, which corresponds with "some bacteria eat toxins and eliminate pollution."

I found the bioterrorism section, a fascinating subject, to be also mundane, and extremely uninformative.Some pathogens, such as cholera, were given a sentence description which simply said "this is used in bioterrorism".Thanks. I'm REALLY understanding biotechnology.

Don't read this book.I'm sure there are much better ones that will help you understand these important biological concepts. ... Read more

Product Description
Describing all topics of white biotechnology admitted to the 7th EU Frame Programme and new industrial production processes aiming towards the Kyoto objectives, this comprehensive overview covers the technology, applications, economic potential and implications for society.Directed at readers with a general interest in a specific technology, this is equally suitable as an introductory handbook to a wide range of industries, including chemicals, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, food and feed, paper and pulp, personal care, energy and agriculture. ... Read more

Product Description
Biotechnology is one of the major new technologies of the twenty-first century that covers multi-disciplinary issues, including DNA techniques, cloning, genetics, and the application of microbiology to the production of goods. It continues to revolutionize the treatments of many diseases, and it is used to deal with environmental solutions. The Biotechnology Procedures and Experiments Handbook provides practicing professionals and biotechnology students over 150 applied, up-to-date laboratory techniques and experiments related to modern topics such as recombinant DNA, electrophoresis, stem cell research, genetic engineering, microbiology, tissue culture, and more. Each lab technique Includes: 1) a principle, 2) the necessary reagents, 3) a step by step procedure, and 4) a final result. Also included is a section that shows how to avoid potential pitfalls of a specific experiment. The book is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing simulations, MATLAB applications, videos, white papers, and other relevant material to biotechnology. Features *Presents a descriptive overview of each subject prior to the experiment or technique *Covers DNA, microbiology, genetic engineering, tissue culture (plant/animal), etc. *Sequentially links experiments to provide a project approach to biotechnology *Accompanied by a CD-ROM containing simulations, figures, white papers, Web sites and numerous other resources. Separate instructors' CD available upon adoption Brief Table Of Contents 1. General Instruction and General Laboratory Methods 2.Tools of Techniques in Biological Studies 3.Biochemistry 4. Entomology 5. Electrophoresis 6. Microbiology 7. Cell Biology and Genetics 8. Molecular Biology 9. Tissue Culture Techniques. Appendix A. Units and Measures. Appendix B. Chemicals or Reagents Required for Molecular Biology Experiments. Appendix C. Reagents Required for Tissue Culture Experiments Appendix C. Chemicals Required for Microbiology Experiments. Index. ... Read more

Product Description
The biotechnology industry is growing rapidly. Every year increasing numbers of life science graduates enter the workforce, more researchers seek to commercialize their research findings, and growing numbers of biotechnology-minded business students and business professionals seek to apply their skills and knowledge to biotechnology. Some of these biotechnology workers enter existing companies, whereas others start their own companies. Regardless of their education, training, or the nature of their work, this growing constituency is challenged to learn how to operate within the biotechnology industry, while continually monitoring and managing the implications of changes in the underpinning fundamentals.

Those operating within the industry - whether in biotechnology companies or in associated supportive roles - are constantly challenged to keep abreast of industry developments and understand their significance. Seeking to meet the need to understand how to practice the business of biotechnology, these best practices provide a framework upon which to understand critical issues in biotechnology business development. Experts from a wide range of disciplines have composed best practices based on their experiences and expertise, creating a vital toolbox covering a broad spectrum of topics. These best practices will enable you develop a better understanding of the key elements in these operations and empower you to better manage their implementation. ... Read more

Product Description
From medicine and defense to food and cosmetics, biotechnological breakthroughs are creating huge new global market opportunities as well as unprecedented challenges. Companies from mega-pharmaceuticals to infotech giants and biotech start-ups must radically rethink their business models. In the first book on the business of biotechnology, Françoise Simon and Philip Kotler combine their biotechnology and marketing ex-pertise to show managers how to innovate with bionetworks, win customers with biobrands, and create sustainable advantage worldwide.

Simon and Kotler explain in clear nontechnical prose how innovation in the new biosector will be driven by a web of cross-industry collaborations, and in particular by three transforming forces: information technology, consumerism, and systems biology. With timely industry cases, the authors demonstrate that by capitalizing on these forces, companies from Hitachi and Siemens to Amgen and Pfizer could become the biotech leaders of the coming decades.

The chapters on building and sustaining biobrands are the centerpiece of this indispensable book. Simon and Kotler present a powerful framework that will enable any manager to redefine and transform traditional models into a new branding paradigm: the global "targeted" model as an alternative to the global "mass market" model. The authors illustrate how each of these models has proven successful in launching such blockbuster drugs as Viagra, Lipitor, Rituxan, and Gleevec.

Relevant to all industries impacted by biotechnology from consumer goods to industrial products, Building Global Biobrands is essential reading for every manager, marketer, analyst, and consultant who must understand the Biotech Century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A Good Read!
This book, exhaustively researched and daunting to read, sums up all of the most important forces likely to concern a biotech marketer. The authors take a dispassionate, methodical approach, buttress their points with plenty of case evidence and examples, clearly have a grasp of the subject and communicate detailed knowledge of great value to those in the field. Unfortunately, their style is plodding and clinical, replete with passive constructions and impersonal, generally soporific sentences. We believe that those with a real need to know will be glad to brew some strong coffee and grateful to stay the course and become so thoroughly updated. Readers who are intrigued by the field - but not immersed in it - will benefit most from reading the introduction, the first three chapters and the conclusion.

A wide and clear-sighted Bio-Business panorama
Françoise Simon and Philip Kotler provide us a concentrate analyse stressed on key-moving-drivers on the Bio-sector. They gave us a wide overview, from R&D leading trend to Marketing implementation and License & Acquisition Business. The two main strengths of this book are the numerous real case studies exposed and the international insight of the whole study(including Europe and Japan).
This book will interest Executives involved in Business Development, Bio-strategy or smart fox wondering what the Bio-sector will look in the fast coming years. This book is different because exhaustive and balanced between Biotech and Big-Pharmas Business model. A unique tool to keep and read again!

Outstanding and Insightful
This book is an outstanding resource for anyone in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries - or anyone interested in investing in those industries. It provides a wealth of information that cannot be found elsewhere. The analysis of alternative strategies for building stronger product markets is very thorough.

A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF BIOTECH AND PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING
This is a very smart book: it is valuable for professionals in all aspects of health care who seek an insight into the global pricing and marketing of medical therapies.

Though not biological scientists, Simon and Kotler impart their treatise with a savvy academic outlook blended with lessons learned in the consulting arena.The authors show an amazing scholarship. They combine knowledge derived from personal acquaintance with key players in the biotechnology and classical pharmaceutical industry with an understanding of the medical applications and implications of drug therapies to weave a rich tapestry of a very complex topic.

Their view ranges from:
· a discussion of the history, politics and costs of biotechnologic research;
· the pricing of new drugs to allow both access and cost recovery (Novartis' introduction of GleevecR);
· the evolution of Big Pharmas' ( e.g. Pfizer, Merck) alliances with smaller bio-tech firms to find innovative therapies,

to the techniques used to maintain brand franchises as patent protection is lost. (Over-the-counter Advil remains a viable brand.)

They are able to keep readers' interest high by providing concise and lively vignettes of many developments in the history of drug introduction and marketing. Among these, they cite:
· Pfizer's promotion of late-entrant LipitorR to become the victor in the statin "races";
· Johnson & Johnson's brilliant recall of TylenolR following deaths due to product tampering and its ability to maintain the brand's prominence for over 30 years; and
· Pfizer's consumer-driven shaping of the market for ViagraR by creatingerectile dysfunction as a new clinical entity.

The future appears to be in the realm of biotechnology with strong BigPharma participation. Whatever the new environment, the basic principles of marketing described in this volume will hold true.

Building Global Biobrands: de rigueur for biotech business
Professors Simon and Kotler have done a great job in capturing many of the latest trends in the biotech world, and its continued fusion with the pharmaceuticals business.The thesis of the book is well laid out, and especially useful are the hundreds of company examples and detailed case studies that are used to prove the points.

The book spans the value chain, and offers insights at several levels.I suggest anyone with an interest in the biotech world -- venture capitalists, regulators, entrepreneurs, pharmaceutical company executives, individual investors -- have a reference copy.You will find it to be invaluable! ... Read more

Product Description
Pharmaceutical Biotechnology offers students taking Pharmacy and related Medical and Pharmaceutical courses a comprehensive introduction to the fast-moving area of biopharmaceuticals. With a particular focus on the subject taken from a pharmaceutical perspective, initial chapters offer a broad introduction to protein science and recombinant DNA technology- key areas that underpin the whole subject. Subsequent chapters focus upon the development, production and analysis of these substances. Finally the book moves on to explore the science, biotechnology and medical applications of specific biotech products categories. These include not only protein-based substances but also nucleic acid and cell-based products.

• introduces essential principles underlining modern biotechnology- recombinant DNA technology and protein science
• an invaluable introduction to this fast-moving subject aimed specifically at pharmacy and medical students
• includes specific ‘product category chapters’ focusing on the pharmaceutical, medical and therapeutic properties of numerous biopharmaceutical products.
• entire chapter devoted to the principles of genetic engineering and how these drugs are developed.
• includes numerous relevant case studies to enhance student understanding
• no prior knowledge of protein structure is assumed 

Product Description
Written by experienced authorities in process validation, Process Validation in Manufacturing of Biopharmaceuticals explores current trends in the field and strategies for the selection of the most appropriate quality control scheme. It offers practical guidelines, recommendations, and an abundance of industrial case studies that demonstrate various techniques and approaches in the validation of biopharmaceutical processes.

Provides specific examples of failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) that help you establish this method in your organization ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good begginer learning tool
Overall this book is a very useful tool for gettig accustomed to regulatory CMC requirements. Some chapters are more comprehensive and detail oriented than others. The case studies included are definitely useful. For someone who is just getting their feet wet in this domain, the book is definitely a life line. For a more advanced person, it might not offer too much. ... Read more