Authoritative laboratory manual on RNA methods is released

RNA's key role in critical cellular functions has made it a powerful tool for unraveling biological processes. Recent discoveries, such as RNA interference and the role of small RNAs, have made RNA techniques an essential component of the molecular biologist's repertoire. RNA: A Laboratory Manual, a newly released book from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, is the authoritative source for a broad range of techniques used in leading-edge RNA research.

"RNA research can be daunting, and without a thorough understanding of the challenges and complexities inherent in handling this fragile nucleic acid, forays into the RNA world can be quite frustrating," write the authors in the preface. "In RNA: A Laboratory Manual, we have attempted to describe a broad scope of current techniques used in RNA research. We hope that this manual will enable any researcher to approach a wide variety of problems from the most fundamental to the highly sophisticated with confidence and high expectation of success."

The authors—Donald Rio, Manual Ares, Gregory Hannon, and Timothy Nilsen—are leading authorities in the field of RNA research and have published several hundred research papers using techniques described in the manual. In the few areas where they did not have direct experience, they enlisted the help of trusted colleagues. This makes RNA: A Laboratory Manual a trustworthy source for a broad range of methods, enabling any investigator to confidently handle RNA and carry out meaningful experiments.

RNA: A Laboratory Manual is divided into eight chapters: The first three cover fundamental approaches for purifying, handling, detecting, and characterizing RNA from a variety of sources. The next three describe more specific methods for identifying RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions and analyzing RNA processing mechanisms. The last two chapters cover up-to-date RNA interference methodologies and approaches for genome-wide studies.

Each chapter includes the necessary theoretical background and strategies for approaching any RNA investigation in addition to detailed step-by-step protocols, extensive tips, and troubleshooting information. Informative illustrations are provided to demonstrate theory, and photos of desired results are included. The extensive appendix includes common recipes and additional protocols.

More information:
RNA: A Laboratory Manual was written by Donald C. Rio (University of California, Berkeley), Manual Ares, Jr. (University of California, Santa Cruz), Gregory J. Hannon (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), and Timothy W. Nilsen (Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine). It is published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (© 2011) in paperback (ISBN 978-0-879698-91-1) and in hardcover (ISBN 978-0-879698-90-4). It is 586 pages long, has a trim size of 8 1/2" × 10 7/8", and contains appendices and an index. For more information, see www.cshlpress.com/link/rnalabp.htm

Provided by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory