DNA Barcoding has been promoted since 2003 as a new, fast, digital genomics-based means of identifying natural species based on the idea that a small standard fragment of any organisms genome (a so-called micro-genome) can faithfully identify and help to classify every species on the planet. The fear that species are becoming extinct before they have ever been known fuels barcoders, and the speed, scope, economy and user-friendliness claimed for DNA barcoding, as part of the larger ferment around the genomics revolution, has also encouraged promises that it could inspire humanity to reverse its biodiversity-destructive habits.This book is based on six years of ethnographic research on changing practices in the identification and classification of natural species. Informed both by Science and Technology Studies (STS) and the anthropology of science, the authors analyse DNA barcoding in the context of a sense of crisis concerning global biodiversity loss, but also the felt inadequacy of taxonomic science to address such loss. The authors chart the specific changes that this innovation is propelling in the collecting, organizing, analyzing, and archiving of biological specimens and biodiversity data. As they do so they highlight the many questions, ambiguities and contradictions that accompany the quest to create a genomics-based environmental technoscience dedicated to biodiversity protection. They ask what it might mean to recognise ambiguity, contradiction, and excess more publicly as a constitutive part of this and other genomic technosciences.Barcoding Nature will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology of science, science and technology studies, politics of the environment, genomics and post-genomics, philosophy and history of biology, and the anthropology of science.

Shortly, this book is the written up-graded version of the topics discussed during the Small Meeting of the 2nd International School Congress: Natural Resources, Sustainability and Humanity, held in Braga, Portugal, 5-8 May 2010 with the diverse participation of scientists, educators and governmental representatives. The Earth hosts an immense ecosystem, colonized by millions of species for billions of years but only for a few tens of thousands of years by humans. Environmental history tells though that it was humankind that shaped the environment as no other species. History, geography, religion and politics among other reasons have differentiated populations with respect to access to safe food and water, education, health, and to space and natural resource utilization. The globalization era of trade, information and communication is shortening distances and increasing overall wealth, but, as is pointed out in this book, it is also contributing to the propagation of diseases, and to the modification or even destruction of native ecosystems by exotic invasive species. Man is the only species that has the perception of its history, evolution, of the consequences of its decisions, and that there is a future ahead. It is also the only species that has the potential to change it. This awareness can be a source of anxiety and contradictory behaviours, but it is also the key to changing attitudes towards the construction of a common sustainable home, by committed education, interdisciplinary approaches, mobilization and empowerment of people and political consonant actions.

Precise taxonomic characterization of organisms is essential for the estimation of biodiversity, conservation of species, and ecological analysis. Conventionally, it has been performed considering visible morphological characters, but in recent years it is not universally acceptable because of cryptic morphological similarities between the species. With the advent of new technologies, such limitations are resolved that lead invention of new species and revised classification of fauna and flora globally. A novel technology "DNA barcoding", which is PCR based, enables accurate identification of the target taxon based on specific DNA sequence that preferably acts as species-specific nucleotide or molecular signature in the genome. This approach facilitates taxonomists, and other biological researchers to discriminate organisms having cryptic morphological similarities and closely related species. In recent years, DNA barcoding technology has emerged as an excellent tool in the unambiguous identification and improvement of livestock and their byproducts used in several commercial entities such as food, medicine, etc., and in securing IPRs for important taxa. Keeping the biological significance of DNA barcode in view, this book details the use of DNA barcoding technology in mysid classification.

COMPUTATION IN BIOINFORMATICS Bioinformatics is a platform between the biology and information technology and this book provides readers with an understanding of the use of bioinformatics tools in new drug design. The discovery of new solutions to pandemics is facilitated through the use of promising bioinformatics techniques and integrated approaches. This book covers a broad spectrum of the bioinformatics field, starting with the basic principles, concepts, and application areas. Also covered is the role of bioinformatics in drug design and discovery, including aspects of molecular modeling. Some of the chapters provide detailed information on bioinformatics related topics, such as silicon design, protein modeling, DNA microarray analysis, DNA-RNA barcoding, and gene sequencing, all of which are currently needed in the industry. Also included are specialized topics, such as bioinformatics in cancer detection, genomics, and proteomics. Moreover, a few chapters explain highly advanced topics, like machine learning and covalent approaches to drug design and discovery, all of which are significant in pharma and biotech research and development. Audience Researchers and engineers in computation biology, information technology, bioinformatics, drug design, biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) refers to DNA that can be extracted from environmental samples (such as soil, water, feces, or air) without the prior isolation of any target organism. The analysis of environmental DNA has the potential of providing high-throughput information on taxa and functional genes in a given environment, and is easily amenable to the study of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. It can provide an understanding of past or present biological communities as well as their trophic relationships, and can thus offer useful insights into ecosystem functioning. There is now a rapidly-growing interest amongst biologists in applying analysis of environmental DNA to their own research. However, good practices and protocols dealing with environmental DNA are currently widely dispersed across numerous papers, with many of them presenting only preliminary results and using a diversity of methods. In this context, the principal objective of this practical handbook is to provide biologists (both students and researchers) with the scientific background necessary to assist with the understanding and implementation of best practices and analyses based on environmental DNA.

New Avenues in Drug Discovery and Bioactive Natural Products is the second volume of the Natural Medicine book series. It is devoted to current research in drug discovery from natural sources. The volume features 13 chapters that cover modern analytical and scientific approaches. The book starts with chapters on advanced analytical and research techniques, such as genomic mining, quality control of herbal drugs, DNA fingerprinting, high-throughput screening, molecular docking and extraction techniques. The contributors provide a summary of challenges for researchers and commercial applications where possible. The book also features chapters dedicated to specific medicinal agents that target a disease (glycosides, SARS-CoV2 spike protein inhibitors, and andrographolides. The collection of important research topics in natural product chemistry aims to help the scholars and researchers in the scientific community that are involved in the extraction and development of new medicines.