Summary: Publisher Summary 1 Researchers explain the technology behind the highly touted Human Genome Project, and especially the technological innovations it has drawn from and contributed to. Considering informatics, robotics, optical and microfabrication techniques, and information management systems, they offer first-hand case studies of automation and control systems and workable models for standardized hardware and software interfaces. They also explore emerging technologies such as capillary gel electrophoresis, miniaturization, and mass spectrometry. Tutorials throughout clarify biological issues underlying the technology. Accessible to non-specialists. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.   Publisher Summary 2 An accessible overview of the latest advancements in automation technologies for genetic mapping—a blueprint for the laboratory of the futur Although much has been written about the genetic science at work in the Human Genome Project, to date there has been a serious gap in the literature about the technology that propels the project. Bringing together a group of leading researchers, this work presents a unified vision of the vital role played by technological innovation in tackling the tremendous challenges of genome characterization. Areas covered include informatics, robotics, optical and microfabrication techniques, and information management systems. Accessible to geneticists and nongeneticists alike, this clearly written resource provides: Illuminating, firsthand case studies of laboratory automation and control systems at highly successful facilities, including workable models for standardized hardware and software interfaces Examinations of promising emergent technologies in such areas as capillary gel electrophoresis, miniaturization, and mass spectrometry Practical discussions of computer simulation and information management for use in the creation of efficient genome factories Tutorials throughout to clarify biological issues underlying each technologyAs one of the first books to address the spectrum of technologies that will carry genetic research into the next millennium, Automation Technologies for Genome Characterization is an indispensable reference for genome researchers as well as biologists, engineers, and computer scientists working in this exciting field Wiley-Interscience Series on Laboratory Automatio