cusses topologies of cellular networks and how some biological properties can be
ascertained solely from network connectivity. The final chapter of this part, Chap-
ter 8, introduces and expands on the use of Bayesian networks to link genetic in-
formation (single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs) to human disease.
Parts V and VI switch from discussing analysis to tackling issues in design. After
introducing the area of synthetic biology in Chapter 9, Part V goes on to look at
computer-aided design (CAD) tools adapted from circuit design to biomolecular
circuitry design in Chapter 10. Next, a case study with a chemical engineering in-
dustrial perspective is presented on applying cellular engineering to perturb cellular
pathways. The final part, Part VI, looks at how biological designs and principles
can be applied back to engineering. In Chapter 12, the biology of sequence hy-
bridization is discussed along with its various applications to engineering, ranging
from DNA-based computers to nanoparticle assembly.
In Chapter 13, it is shown how massive parallelization via DNA computing can
be used to break encryption algorithms previously thought to be secure. Finally,
Chapter 14 examines how navigation and source localization strategies can be in-
spired by biological designs involving chemotaxis. The book concludes by summa-
rizing the field and looking at future avenues of research in this area. For those
interested in additional resources, source code, and related materials, the book’s In-
ternet site can be accessed under artechhouse.com.
Because this work has been an international effort, there are many people
whose contributions were critical to its publication. The editors would like to thank
the editors at Artech House—particularly acquisitions editor Wayne Yuhasz, who
invited us to write this book and worked hard with us to complete it on a tight
schedule—and Barbara Lovenvirth, who helped in the manuscript review process.
The editors would like to say thank you to 6.092 co-course director Manolis Kel-
lis, Assistant Professor at the MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science De-
partment’ to Prof. Isaac Kohane at Harvard Medical School; to the Harvard
Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics; and to the faculty and student mem-
bers of the Harvard/MIT Health Science and Technology Division’s Graduate Com-
mittee as well as the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Division,
especially Anne Hunter, for their support of the HST 480/6.092 courses.
The editors would like to thank the contributing authors to the text: Gregory
Crowther, Catherine Speake, Alicia McBride, and Mary Lidstrom (Chapter 1);
Stephanie Mohr, Yanhui Hu, and Joshua LaBaer (Chapter 2); Maya Said (Chapter 3),
Peter Monchamp, Lucio Cetto, Jane Zhang, and Rob Henson (Chapter 4); Fulvia Fer-
razzi and Riccardo Bellazzi (Chapter 5); Tae Jun Lee, Chee Meng Tan, Dennis Tu,
and Lingchong You (Chapter 6); Vinayak Muralidhar and Gabor Szabo (Chapter 7);
Paola Sebastiani and Maria Abad-Grau (Chapter 8); Cody Wood (Chapter 9);
Jonathan Goler and Tom Knight (Chapter 10); Brian Baynes and William Blake
(Chapter 11); Olgica Milenkovic (Chapter 12); Michael Shan-Hui Ho, Weng-Long
Chang, and Minyi Guo (Chapter 13); and Gail Rosen and Paul Hasler (Chapter 14).
Additionally, the editors would like to acknowledge Ehsan Afkhami, now at
Mathworks, for his contributions early in the book development process. Thank
you as well to the following people who helped in reviewing and editing the
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