Annotating new genes: From in silico screening to experimental validation

In recent years, a number of academic and commercial software packages and databases have been developed to analyze and screen biological data. However, the usability of this data is compromised by "novel genes"-genes to which no biological function has been assigned. Dr. Shizuka Uchida outlines an approach to the analysis of evolutionarily-conserved, heart-enriched genes with unknown functions and offers a step-by-step description of the procedure, from screening to validation. He begins by introducing the databases and software available, before moving on to cover programming guidelines, including a specific case study on the use of C-It for in-silico screening. In the second half of the book, Dr. Uchida describes experimental validation concepts and procedures and provides an overview of additional potential applications of this approach in the field of stem cells and tissue regeneration, before concluding by summarizing the concepts and theories presented.