Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
50
result(s) for
"Cordes, Eugene H"
Sort by:
The Tao of Chemistry and Life
Written with the non-scientist in mind, this book employs the molecule and its interactions to explain the characteristics of living organisms in terms of the underlying chemistry of life. Following introductory chapters on the fundamentals of life, attention then turns to small molecules such as hormones and neurotransmitters and subsequently to macromolecules including proteins and nucleic acids. The interactions between small and macromolecules remains a central point throughout the book. These include enzymatic catalysis, hormone action, neurotransmission, regulation of metabolism, biosynthesis of macromolecules, the mechanism of action of drugs, taste, olfaction, learning and memory, and chemical communication. A second central point of emphasis is the sensitive relationship between chemical structure and biological activity. Examples abound and include why subtle changes in fatty acid architecture have positive or negative outcomes for human health in omega-three fatty acids and trans fats and how modest changes in the chemical decoration of the steroid skeleton provide the difference between male and female sex hormones. Beyond these examples taken from the chemistry of small molecules, the book includes a thoughtful consideration of genomics, including the relationship between genome structure and species. The theme of human health appears throughout the book. Cardiovascular medicine, cancer, metabolic diseases, and diseases of the nervous system receive significant attention including consideration of how a variety of drugs work in combating these issues. In sum, the goal of this book is to inform the non-scientist community in a way that will lead to increased understanding of the relationship between chemistry and life.
eBook
Hallelujah moments : tales of drug discovery
Drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry has important consequences for the health and wellbeing of people everywhere. However, the general public knows little about the paths through which basic research findings are translated into products that protect or restore human health: the route from the laboratory bench to the bedside. In Hallelujah Moments, Eugene Cordes reveals how some of the most important and influential drugs have been brought into the practice of clinical medicine through the wit and determination of scientists in academia and industry. He shares his firsthand knowledge of the drug-discovery world, having spent a long and distinguished career in both the academic and industrial settings. These tales are \"adventure stories,\" and they trace the route of important drugs like Januvia, Primaxin, Capoten, and Zocor from concept to the clinic. Cordes shows us the dynamic and critical thinking needed to create a drug that meets important health needs. These are human stories of imagination, risk-taking, problem-solving, and perseverance. Written accessibly for a non-scientist audience, Hallelujah Moments provides insights into the fascinating world of drug discovery like never before.
eBook
Tao of Chemistry and Life: A Scientific Journey: A Scientific Journey
Written with the non-scientist in mind, this book employs the molecule and its interactions to explain the characteristics of living organisms in terms of the underlying chemistry of life. Following introductory chapters on the fundamentals of life, attention then turns to small molecules such as hormones and neurotransmitters and subsequently to macromolecules including proteins and nucleic acids. The interactions between small and macromolecules remains a central point throughout the book. These include enzymatic catalysis, hormone action, neurotransmission, regulation of metabolism, biosynthesis of macromolecules, the mechanism of action of drugs, taste, olfaction, learning and memory, and chemical communication. A second central point of emphasis is the sensitive relationship between chemical structure and biological activity. Examples abound and include why subtle changes in fatty acid architecture have positive or negative outcomes for human health in omega-three fatty acids and trans fats and how modest changes in the chemical decoration of the steroid skeleton provide the difference between male and female sex hormones. Beyond these examples taken from the chemistry of small molecules, the book includes a thoughtful consideration of genomics, including the relationship between genome structure and species. The theme of human health appears throughout the book. Cardiovascular medicine, cancer, metabolic diseases, and diseases of the nervous system receive significant attention including consideration of how a variety of drugs work in combating these issues. In sum, the goal of this book is to inform the non-scientist community in a way that will lead to increased understanding of the relationship between chemistry and life.
eBook
Your brain Good things and not-good things
For certain, one thing is clear: life is not fair. If you have parents who love and care for you, you have an immeasurable advantage in life over those who lack such nuturing. I was fortunate to have such parents but, beyond that, I had two extraordinary grandparents, my paternal grandfather (I get around to him in a later chapter) and my maternal grandmother.
Book Chapter
Chemical communication
She sent for one of those squat, plump little cakes called “petite madeleines” which look as though they had been molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell. And soon, mechanically, dispirited after a dreary day with prospect of a dreary morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shiver ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life became indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory—this new sensation having had the effect, which love has, of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me, it was me. I had ceased to feel mediocre, contingent, mortal. Whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy? I sensed that it was connected with the taste of the tea and cake.
Book Chapter
Carbohydrates Sweetness and life
For most people, the mention of carbohydrates, more commonly known simply as “carbs,” rightly brings to mind bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, and suchlike—all carbohydrate-rich foods, as are fruits and fruit juices. Proponents of certain diets, most notably the Atkins diet, have vilified carbohydrates: eat the hamburger but throw away the bun. Throughout 2003 and much of 2004, supermarket shelves were loaded with a host of new products touting their low-carbohydrate content. Seemingly, everyone was eager to cash in on the faddish popularity of the Atkins diet. It went so far as to include low-carb beers, as if “lite” beers were not enough insult to the taste buds of aficionados of this blue-collar staple. Happily, the Atkins diet fad has run its course as all fad diets do, sooner or later. The simple, compelling fact is that carbohydrates are essential in the diet of healthy human beings.
Book Chapter
Proteins are three-dimensional objects
Chemists are not quite as odd as they are frequently depicted. Given that dedicating a professional life to moving around molecules one way or another may seem a bit wide of the mark to most people, chemists do have a life outside the laboratory. In my experience, chemists have more than the usual affinity for the arts: music and painting in particular.
Book Chapter
Building blocks and glue
In the previous chapter we established that the molecule methane is assembled from one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, arranged in a specific, precise way in space. The idea here is quite general: choose a collection of atoms of various types, connect them in a unique way and you have a new molecule. That is one of the things that chemists do, generally, in a search for molecules having useful properties, a novel drug for an important medical need for example. What follows in this chapter will establish some principles based on molecules containing only a single carbon atom that, like methane, have important meaning for us moving forward.
Book Chapter
Life Central properties
The domain of living organisms is unified by the commonality of cells and in terms of mutual energy dependence. Living organisms are open systems that create order at the expense of disorder in the environment. Life can be defined by a series of characteristics, including evolved programs and chemical properties.
Book Chapter