Biocalorimetry: Foundations and Contemporary Approaches
Edited by Margarida Bastos
CRC Press 2016
Print ISBN: 978-1-4822-4665-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4822-4666-7

From the Back Cover of the book

“Whether the reader is new to the area or already an experienced scientist, this book will serve as the ultimate reference in the field of biocalorimetry. The very pioneers that gave us the instrumentation and techniques cover the history and background of biocalorimetry. The ongoing research is described by current experts in different fields of biocalorimetry.”
—Arne Schön, Research Scientist, Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University

“This book is a much-needed update on the field of biothermodynamics and biocalorimetry. … take the time to read the book from its beginning to grasp how the field started and until the end to have an idea on where it is expanding to.”
—Watson Loh, Professor of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas

 Summary

Connecting past, present, and future instrument development and use, Biocalorimetry: Foundations and Contemporary Approaches explores biocalorimetry’s history, fundamentals, methodologies, and applications. Some of the most prominent calorimeter developers and users share invaluable personal accounts of discovery, discussing innovative techniques as well as special and original applications. Wide in scope, the book also covers calorimetry use on membranes, nucleic acids, and proteins and addresses both thermodynamics and kinetics.

The book begins with a look at the historical development of calorimeters needed for biological research. It then describes advanced approaches that use high-quality commercial calorimeters to study biochemical and other biological processes. It also shows how novel experimental designs and data analysis procedures are applied to proteins, DNA, membranes, and living matter.

Feature

• Presents contributions from world-renowned scientists who developed the main instruments used in the field.
• Discusses the historical and methodological background of biocalorimetry.
• Covers both thermodynamics and kinetics, including new approaches on kinetics derived from isothermal titration calorimetry for proteins and membrane partition.
• Describes new ways to deal with data from proteins, DNA, and membranes, and interpret the obtained results.
• Includes various applications that illustrate the use of calorimetry to monitor bacterial populations and biofilms, study enzyme catalysis, investigate clinical samples, and aid in pharmaceutical drug development.

Short Bio of the Editor

Margarida Bastos is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Porto, where she leads the biocalorimetry research group. Having calorimetry as main expertise, she has also been using other biophysical techniques such as small angle x-ray diffraction (SAXD), neutron scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, microscopy (SEM, TEM, confocal), to study antimicrobial peptides/membrane interactions, polymer/surfactant mixtures, hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds, and hydration of biopolymers. She earned a PhD in thermochemistry from Lund University.