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The trouble with star gazing
485
book reviews carriers. This is a very important aspect of the design of these products, since most chemical and genetic modifications of hemoglobin involve sites at or near C O 2 binding sites of the hemoglobin molecule. The reduced C O 2 binding may have serious clinical implications, especially in critically ill patients where tissue C O 2 build-up could be very high, R.ohlfs and Vandegriff, in Chapter 11, describe a novel approach to preparing nonphospholipid vesicles for the encapsulation of hemoglobin. The authors suggest that this
method ofliposome production may prove to be superior to the classical method of phospholipidbased liposome encapsulation, thus providing a more stable environment for hemoglobin free of phospholipid-mediated, oxygen free radical production. In the last chapter, Levin et al. summarize their recent findings on the interaction of hemoglobin with bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) and the potential contributions of LPS to the observed toxicities of hemoglobin solutions. Data presented show that hemoglobin
The trouble with star gazing Biosensors in Analytical Biotechnology
edited by Ruth Freitag, Academic Press and R. G. Landes, 1996. UK~,51.00 (198pages) I S B N 0 12 266990 8
The foreword to this book commences 'The Good Manufacturing Praxis (GMP) requires better press control' perhaps so, but what has this got to do with the subject matter? Unfortunately, the misuse of the word 'press' as a substitute for 'process' continues throughout the foreword and this seems to set the scene for the book itself. The tone and use of English grates. Presented in eight chapters and constituting some 198 pages, the book is a reasonable and detailed review of what has been accomplished in the analysis of various diverse processes in a number of laboratories in the last decade. In this respect the book is adequate, but largely it teaches nothing more than could be obtained by reading the original papers. Indeed, it is difficult to really understand who the book is aimed at. The publishers claim an aim of publishing in 'rapid changing areas of medicine for sophisticated researchers and clinicians', whereas the foreword is largely concerned with the state of the art in 'monitoring and control of several biotechnological processes'.
In respect of the content, five chapters, those by Freitag on 'Sampling Modules', Thordsen and Freitag on 'Optical Biosensors in Bioprocess Technology', Freitag on 'Immunoanalysis and hnmunosensors', Kretzmer on 'On-Line Monitoring of Animal Cell Cultivation' and Bilitewski and R o h m on 'Biosensors for Monitoring Microbial Processes' are routine, competent and detailed reviews of the literature, which regrettably seek to report detail rather than draw conclusions. It is unlikely that these will appeal to the 'sophisticated researcher'. The chapter on 'Enzyme Modified Field-Effect-Transistors (EnFET) for Bioprocess Monitoring' by Kullick and Ulber, with five pages of discussion of this complex subject followed by ten pages of generalized data with a few examples, does not do credit to the subject matter. These authors do, however, make the one critical statement in the book: 'while there is an abundance ofbiosensors to be found in the literature, most of these devices have never been confronted with a real life sample'. Absolutely true, which raises the question - why write the book in
itself acts as an LPS binding protein and that this complex interaction not only enhances the biological activity of LPS, but also reduces the clearance of this molecule from circulation. In summary, the book provides an up-to-date picture of this rapidly evolving field, as it covers widely diverse and timely topics in reasonable detail.
Abdu L Alayash Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
the first place? Analytical biotechnology is concerned with real life samples and biosensors have not really been used in anger yet in any branch of application. N o r does the book indicate what the likely potential for the future is, but then others have done this in the past. The book is, perhaps, saved from being totally condemned to the library of 'its cover looks good on the shelf, but don't bother with the content' by just two chapters. The fourth chapter by Weigel on 'Flow Injection Analysis Based on Enzymatic Reactions' gives voice to a subject both of potential importance and one which has not been widely discussed in the literature previously. The author also shows a good appreciation of the breadth of the subject matter and discusses well the practicality- of the system. The other saviour is the Hitzmann et aI. chapter (six) on 'Neural Networks as a Tool for the Evaluation of the Measurement Signals of Bio-FET-FI-Sensors' which gives a good, if relatively brief, account of a subject which is of marked importance to data analysis and control and an area in which researchers can benefit from the competent text. Overall, two chapters redeem what is a curious and unconvincing book. However, any book entitled Biosensors in Analytical Biotechnology when there are actually so few either has to be a well written star-gazing text (this isn't), or is in trouble (which this one clearly is).
T. Atkinson University of Warwick, Coventry, UK CV4 7AL.
TIBTECHDECEMBER1996(VOL14)
book reviews carriers. This is a very important aspect of the design of these products, since most chemical and genetic modifications of hemoglobin involve sites at or near C O 2 binding sites of the hemoglobin molecule. The reduced C O 2 binding may have serious clinical implications, especially in critically ill patients where tissue C O 2 build-up could be very high, R.ohlfs and Vandegriff, in Chapter 11, describe a novel approach to preparing nonphospholipid vesicles for the encapsulation of hemoglobin. The authors suggest that this
method ofliposome production may prove to be superior to the classical method of phospholipidbased liposome encapsulation, thus providing a more stable environment for hemoglobin free of phospholipid-mediated, oxygen free radical production. In the last chapter, Levin et al. summarize their recent findings on the interaction of hemoglobin with bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) and the potential contributions of LPS to the observed toxicities of hemoglobin solutions. Data presented show that hemoglobin
The trouble with star gazing Biosensors in Analytical Biotechnology
edited by Ruth Freitag, Academic Press and R. G. Landes, 1996. UK~,51.00 (198pages) I S B N 0 12 266990 8
The foreword to this book commences 'The Good Manufacturing Praxis (GMP) requires better press control' perhaps so, but what has this got to do with the subject matter? Unfortunately, the misuse of the word 'press' as a substitute for 'process' continues throughout the foreword and this seems to set the scene for the book itself. The tone and use of English grates. Presented in eight chapters and constituting some 198 pages, the book is a reasonable and detailed review of what has been accomplished in the analysis of various diverse processes in a number of laboratories in the last decade. In this respect the book is adequate, but largely it teaches nothing more than could be obtained by reading the original papers. Indeed, it is difficult to really understand who the book is aimed at. The publishers claim an aim of publishing in 'rapid changing areas of medicine for sophisticated researchers and clinicians', whereas the foreword is largely concerned with the state of the art in 'monitoring and control of several biotechnological processes'.
In respect of the content, five chapters, those by Freitag on 'Sampling Modules', Thordsen and Freitag on 'Optical Biosensors in Bioprocess Technology', Freitag on 'Immunoanalysis and hnmunosensors', Kretzmer on 'On-Line Monitoring of Animal Cell Cultivation' and Bilitewski and R o h m on 'Biosensors for Monitoring Microbial Processes' are routine, competent and detailed reviews of the literature, which regrettably seek to report detail rather than draw conclusions. It is unlikely that these will appeal to the 'sophisticated researcher'. The chapter on 'Enzyme Modified Field-Effect-Transistors (EnFET) for Bioprocess Monitoring' by Kullick and Ulber, with five pages of discussion of this complex subject followed by ten pages of generalized data with a few examples, does not do credit to the subject matter. These authors do, however, make the one critical statement in the book: 'while there is an abundance ofbiosensors to be found in the literature, most of these devices have never been confronted with a real life sample'. Absolutely true, which raises the question - why write the book in
itself acts as an LPS binding protein and that this complex interaction not only enhances the biological activity of LPS, but also reduces the clearance of this molecule from circulation. In summary, the book provides an up-to-date picture of this rapidly evolving field, as it covers widely diverse and timely topics in reasonable detail.
Abdu L Alayash Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
the first place? Analytical biotechnology is concerned with real life samples and biosensors have not really been used in anger yet in any branch of application. N o r does the book indicate what the likely potential for the future is, but then others have done this in the past. The book is, perhaps, saved from being totally condemned to the library of 'its cover looks good on the shelf, but don't bother with the content' by just two chapters. The fourth chapter by Weigel on 'Flow Injection Analysis Based on Enzymatic Reactions' gives voice to a subject both of potential importance and one which has not been widely discussed in the literature previously. The author also shows a good appreciation of the breadth of the subject matter and discusses well the practicality- of the system. The other saviour is the Hitzmann et aI. chapter (six) on 'Neural Networks as a Tool for the Evaluation of the Measurement Signals of Bio-FET-FI-Sensors' which gives a good, if relatively brief, account of a subject which is of marked importance to data analysis and control and an area in which researchers can benefit from the competent text. Overall, two chapters redeem what is a curious and unconvincing book. However, any book entitled Biosensors in Analytical Biotechnology when there are actually so few either has to be a well written star-gazing text (this isn't), or is in trouble (which this one clearly is).
T. Atkinson University of Warwick, Coventry, UK CV4 7AL.
TIBTECHDECEMBER1996(VOL14)