BSCB Newsletter, Autumn 2007 Book Reviews Bioinformatics: Genomics and Post-Genomics Frédéric Dardel and François Képès John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 256 pages ISBN 0-470-02001-6 We recently marked the fifty-year anniversary of the double helix, and shortly thereafter we have become witnesses to the birth of the genomic era [1]. The elucidation of the genomic sequence of organisms as diverse as viruses and humans is deservedly considered the greatest triumph of molecular biology since the discovery of the DNA double helix [2]. The genomic revolution is expected to change the face of science as we knew it, and to impact practically all biomedical and medical areas. Over the past few years, cancer investigation and treatment, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative medicine [3], autoimmune diseases [4], infectious disease research [5] and other disciplines such as bio-defence [6, 7] and agriculture [8, 9, 10] have all benefited tremendously from the expansion of the -omics disciplines. In context of the new developments the genomic era has brought, Bioinformatics: Genomics and Post-Genomics becomes a fundamental and indispensable resource for undergraduate and early graduate students. The book, insightfully authored by Frédéric Dardel and François Képès, was initially developed as a course taught at the École Polytechnique in France. Bioinformatics: Genomics and Post-Genomics represents a valuable resource for students attempting to lay the basic theoretical foundations before engaging more deeply in the study of any of the disciplines converging on genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, and systems biology. The eight chapters describe concepts ranging from biological sciences to informatics, as they cover basic principles about sequencing, sequence alignment and comparative genomics, structural and functional homologies, structure prediction, simulation of molecular networks, transcriptomics and proteomics. One area that will benefit tremendously from the genomic revolution, in ways that years ago seemed unthinkable, is drug design. According to recent estimates, only one in 10,000-30,000 synthesized compounds will eventually become a commercial drug, and 12-15 years are currently required from preclinical discovery to the clinical development stages for any given compound [11]. Genomics is promising to reduce drug development time and validate and optimize newly discovered targets, and this emerges as an utmost priority, particularly in context of the increasing numbers of resistant organisms and the breadth of resistance in any single microorganism [12]. While new technological advances will not represent magic wands [13], they will provide an array of unbelievable resources for research and development. As one recent paper remarked so aptly, systems biology provides a new grammar for drug discovery [14]. Bioinformatics: Genomics and Post-Genomics will immensely help students in understanding that grammar and in establishing important foundations while shaping their careers. Richard A. Stein, Michael Heidelberger Division of Immunology Department of Pathology, New York University Medical Center, New York steinr01@med.nyu.edu References 1. Collins FS, et al. A vision for the future of genomic research. Nature 2003; 422(6934): 835–847. PubMed 2. Biron DG, et al. The pitfalls of proteomics experiments without the correct use of bioinformatics tools. Proteomics 2006; 6(20): 5577-5596. PubMed 3. Assmus HE, et al. Dynamics of biological systems: role of systems biology in medical research. Expert Rev Mol Diagn 2006; 6(6):891-902. PubMed 4. Kalbas M, et al. New analytical tools for studying autoimmune diseases. Curr Pharm Des 2006; 12(29):3735-3742. PubMed 5. Parkhill J, et al. Comparative analysis of the genome sequences of Bordetella pertussis, Bordetella parapertussis and Bordetella bronchiseptica. Nat Genet 2003; 35(1):32–40. PubMed 6. Drake RR, et al. Proteomics for biodefense applications: progress and opportunities. Expert Rev Proteomics 2005; 2(2):203-213. PubMed 7. Stenger DA, et al. Potential applications of DNA microarrays in biodefense-related diagnostics. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2002; 13(3):208-212. PubMed 8. Rhee SY, Dickerson J, Xu D. Bioinformatics and its applications in plant biology. Annu Rev Plant Biol 2006; 57:335-360. PubMed 9. McCarthy FM, et al. AgBase: a functional genomics resource for agriculture. BMC Genomics 2006; 8(7):229. PubMed 10. Fadiel, A. Farm animal genomics and informatics: an update. Nucleic Acids Res 2005; 33(19):6308-6318. PubMed 11. Veljkovic V, et al. Application of the EIIP/ISM bioinformatics concept in development of new drugs. Curr Med Chem 2007; 14(4):441-453. PubMed 12. Levy SB and Marshall B. Antibacterial resistance worldwide: causes, challenges and responses. Nat Med 2004; 10(Suppl), S122–S129. PubMed 13. Beattie J and Ghazal P. Post-genomic technologies--thinking beyond the hype. Drug Discov Today 2003; 8(20):909-910. PubMed 14. Fishman MC and Porter JA. A new grammar for drug discovery. Nature 2005; 437, 491–493. PubMed