Biological
Inorganic Chemistry Biological
Inorganic Chemistry "cutting-edge material"
"I heartily recommend
this exciting book as an excellent senior-and graduate-level textbook as well as
a reference source for both students and seasoned researchers alike. With
its cutting-edge material, it should remain definitive many years to come."
—Chem Educator
"A fantastic book
that I can't wait to get on my shelf."
—Sonya J. Franklin, University of Iowa
"Excellent and
comprehensive...appropriate for use both as a textbook and as a reference."
—Kara Bren, University of Rochester
The long awaited text for 21st century courses in biological inorganic chemistry is now available. Organized and edited by Ivano Bertini, Harry Gray, Ed Stiefel, and Joan Valentine, with contributions from many other world leaders in the field, this all-new book is equally appropriate for graduate or senior undergraduate courses in bioinorganic chemistry. The book has been extensively class-tested at Princeton and UCLA, and it includes tutorials in biology and biochemistry and in inorganic chemistry to aid students of varying backgrounds. The main text is divided into two parts. Part A, “Overviews of Biological Inorganic Chemistry,” sets forth the unifying principles of the field. A full course in bioinorganic chemistry could be based entirely on this overview section, which is a really a book within a book! Part B, “Metal-Ion Containing Biological Systems,” describes specific classes of systems in detail. A special feature is the strong connection to the genomic revolution that has dramatically enhanced our ability to define the function of gene products in living organisms. Throughout the book, protein data bank codes are given for structures discussed in the text, and students are encouraged to learn to use the PDB in their courses and research. This exciting new book will be a must read for years to come for all students and researchers interested in the field of biological inorganic chemistry.
About
the Editors
Photo shows, from left right, Harry Gray, Ed Stiefel, Joan
Valentine and Ivano Bertini.
Ivano Bertini is Professor of
Chemistry and Director of the Magnetic Resonance Center of the
University of Florence. His main research interests are the advancements in
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the expression and preparation of
metalloproteins, their structural characterization and the investigation of
their interactions with emphasis on understanding cellular processes at the
molecular level. He has over 600 papers and many books. He has received the
Chugaev Diploma of Kurnakov Institute of the Academy of Science, URSS, in 1981,
the Golden Medal of the Magnetic Resonance Group of the Italian Chemical
Society, in 1991, Prize
Accademia dei Lincei, Italy, in 1993, Bijvoet
Medal, Utrecht, NL, in 1998, Sapio
NMR Prize, Italy, in 1999 and the Cannizzaro Medal of the Italian Chemical
Society and the Basolo Medal in 2006. Amongst the special lectures: A.D. Little
Lecturer at MIT, Cambridge, MS, USA, in 1997, E.L. Mütterties Lecturer at
Berkeley, CA, USA, in 1997 and FECS lecturer, Athens in 2002. He has received
three honorary doctorates. He is a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
and of the Academia Europaea.
Edward I. Stiefel, Professor
of Chemistry at Princeton University and associated faculty member of the
Princeton Environmental Institute until his untimely death in summer of 2006. His
research involved the role of metal ions in biological systems including: iron
in marine environments, especially the iron storage and DNA protective proteins
ferritin and Dps; the biological production of hydrogen by phototropic
hydrogenases and theoretical studies of hydrogenase action; the role of
molybdenum in biology; and aspects of metals in medicine.
He taught courses on the Elements of Life for freshman, Astrobiology for
sophomores and Metals in Biology for advanced undergraduates and graduate
students. He served on the Board of
Reviewing Editors of Science and the
Board of Editors of the Journal of
Inorganic Biochemistry. Stiefel was the Sacconi Lecturer in Florence in 2002 and the Distinguished Lecturer at
the University of Louisville in 2003 where he was named a Kentucky Colonel by
the Governor of Kentucky. He won the American Chemical Society Award in Inorganic Chemistry for the year
2000. Ed
Stiefel will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Joan Selverstone Valentine is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at
UCLA. She is a leading figure working at the interface of inorganic
chemistry and biology and has published over 200 research papers and several
books, and her work is widely cited. She pioneered the chemistry of the
superoxide anion, and her discoveries have been fundamental to our understanding
of the biological reactions of dioxygen and its interactions with metalloenzymes.
Particularly notable in recent years are her demonstrations of the remarkable
nucleophilic properties of iron porphyrin peroxo complexes, development of novel
sol-gel techniques to entrap biological macromolecules in an optically
transparent rigid matrix, and her ongoing detailed biophysical characterization
of mutant copper-zinc superoxide dismutase enzymes that cause Lou Gehrig’s
disease. She is a recipient of several awards, including the John
C. Bailar, Jr. Medal, has held numerous distinguished lectureships in the
United States and abroad, and was recently elected to membership in the National
Academy of Science. She is Editor-in-Chief of Accounts
of Chemical Research, an American Chemical Society journal.
