The quintessential introductory guide to the study and application of biomarkers Most commonly associated with medical diagnostics, biomarkers indicate the presence of disease as well as determine its stage of progression. However, in addition to their role in detecting illness, biomarkers have important roles to play in other important biological and biochemical functions that are directly relevant to health, including predicting a drug's toxicity or effectiveness, and providing a reliable parameter with which to measure one's exposure to hazards in the environment.
A robust introduction to these versatile tools, this book covers the basic fundamentals of biomarkers with discussion of their various uses, then explores the different approaches that can be applied in identifying, characterizing, and monitoring them. A solid foundation for examining the principles, advantages, disadvantages, and applications of methods for biomarker discovery techniques, this book:
- Describes classical and novel biomarkers for different organ damage and disease states including HIV, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, kidney and vascular injury
- Emphasizes the preclinical and clinical manifestations of injury and disease processes and how these can be predicted and monitored with biomarkers
- Covers the approaches, diagnostics, and assays for detecting biomarkers
- Provides information on the U.S. FDA's Critical Path Initiative, which has placed a high priority on the identification and qualification of additional biomarkers
Biomarkers offers a wealth of material that will aid researchers in choosing the correct biomarker for a given case, teach them how to accurately analyze and interpret their results, and guide them in making informed decisions concerning diagnoses and monitoring of tissue injury. For these reasons, students and professionals from many scientific fields will find Biomarkers a valuable addition to their reference library.
