Bioseparations: Downstream Processing for Biotechnology

Rating:
Summary: A classic text, but outdated and ill-maintained
Review: When first published in 1988, this was one of the few - if not the only - comprehensive textbook for engineers on separation of biological molecules. It quickly, and deservedly, became the mainstay of senior/graduate bioseparation courses. That was over a decade ago, and as the biotechnology industry has evolved away from antibiotics, solvents and organic acids towards high-value recombinant proteins, the book's content has become progressively outdated. The sections on centrifugation, solvent extraction, adsorption isotherms, and linear breakthrough curves in column adsorption are well done and highly recommended to anyone seeking a brief but solid introduction to these areas. However, both the examples and the content of the chromatography section are disappointingly old-fashioned. Readers seeking information on chromatography would be better off with a recent edition of Scopes' Protein Purification book, or Ladisch's new bioseparation text. Electrokinetic methods are given short shrift, and the exciting applications of bioseparations to genomics, proteomics and drug lead identification are absent, having emerged after the book. Finally, readers should beware the many errors in equations and homework problems, which have stood stubbornly uncorrected through numerous reprintings.