The work described in this book is an excellent example of interdisciplinary research in
systems biology. It shows how concepts and approaches from the field of physics can be
efficiently used to answer biological questions and reports on a novel methodology involving
creative computer-based analyses of high-throughput biological data. Many of the findings
described in the book which are the result of collaborations between the author (a theoretical
scientist) and experimental biologists and between different laboratories have been published
in high-quality peer-reviewed journals such as Molecular Cell and Nature. However while those
publications address different aspects of post-transcriptional gene regulation this book
provides readers with a complete coherent and logical view of the research project as a whole.
The introduction presents post-transcriptional gene regulation from a distinct angle
highlighting aspects of information theory and evolution and laying the groundwork for the
questions addressed in the subsequent chapters which concern the regulation of the
transcriptome as the primary functional carrier of active genetic information.
