(From left to right) María Dolores Real, Carolina Rausell and Amparo Latorre, professors at the Department of Genetics of the University of Valencia. Photo: I. García-Robles

The professors of the Faculty of Biological Sciences María Dolores Real, Carolina Rausell and Amparo Latorre have published 'Genetic Engineering Techniques', a work in which they delve into the basic techniques for the manipulation of genes and genomes and that includes the most innovative techniques of this discipline that currently raises the possibility of creating synthetic life and modifying the genomes of any organism. In addition, it explains the most relevant biotechnological applications, the future perspectives of new technologies and the new ethical challenges of genetics.

The book is aimed mainly at undergraduate students and is accompanied by extensive, more specialized complementary material. Gene transfer to bacterial, animal and plant cells, molecular cloning, modification of DNA sequences or manipulation of DNA on a genomic scale are some of the topics discussed in this work, in which the authors explain the essential conceptual and methodological knowledge of genetic engineering.

These are presented with their main biotechnological and therapeutic applications in the fields of biomedicine, agriculture or industry. For example, obtaining pharmacological products such as antibiotics or vaccines, improving traditional food production processes or treating urban, agricultural or industrial waste. Likewise, the ethical challenges posed by new biotechnological trends are raised, which they address from a rigorous scientific perspective.

With this book, the authors have sought to achieve a text that provides an enriching didactic experience. Thus, the work, structured in 14 themes, has an extensive corpus of graphic resources, among which we find numerous figures, explanatory notes, illustrative examples and links to support the content.

In addition, it incorporates an omics perspective (a global vision with a large amount of data obtained through massive analyzes derived from the application of new technologies) that, as the authors explain, “will result in a better knowledge of the pathophysiology – effects on the functions of cells and organs – of the diseases to achieve a more precise diagnosis and personalized treatment.”

Teaching and research career

The authors are professors at the Department of Genetics of the University of Valencia and teach various subjects of genetics, genetic engineering, molecular methods in biology and genomics. They have used their teaching experience, from which much of the material included in the book comes, to create a reference manual for undergraduate students.

María Dolores Real and Carolina Rausell are members of the BIOMOL research group (Research Laboratory in Biomolecules for Agricultural and Therapeutic Application) of the Department of Genetics of the University of Valencia. His research focuses mainly on the field of plant protection and includes three basic lines: mode of action of the bioinsecticidal toxins of Bacillus thuringiensis in different plazca insects, natural mechanisms of plants against the attack of pathogens and the detection of stress in plants through molecular biomarker profiles.

On the other hand, Amparo Latorre is part of the Evolutionary Genetics research group, integrated into the Evolutionary Systems Biology Program Symbionts from the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (Y2SysBio), a joint center of the University of Valencia and the CSIC. He also carries out his activity in the mixed research unit of Animal and Human Symbiosis of the Fisabio Foundation and the University of Valencia. Its task focuses on the analysis of the mechanisms of metabolic and genetic integration of microorganisms with their hosts. These animal models are intended to serve to understand the ecology and evolution of symbiosis in the human species.