Philip D. Langton 
Essential Guide to Reading Biomedical Papers 
Recognising and Interpreting Best Practice

Essential Guide to Reading Biomedical Papers: Recognising and
Interpreting Best Practice is an indispensable companion to the
biomedical literature. This concise, easy-to-follow text gives an
insight into core techniques and practices in biomedical research
and how, when and why a technique should be used and presented in
the literature. Readers are alerted to common failures and
misinterpretations that may evade peer review and are equipped with
the judgment necessary to be properly critical of the findings
claimed by research articles. This unique book will be an
invaluable resource for students, technicians and researchers in
all areas of biomedicine.



* Allows the reader to develop the necessary skills to properly
evaluate research articles

* Coverage of over 30 commonly-used techniques in the biomedical
sciences

* Global approach and application, with contributions from
leading experts in diverse fields

Table of Content

List of contributors ix

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgements xvii

Introduction xix

Section A – Basic principles 1

1 Philosophy of science 3

James Ladyman

2 Ingredients of experimental design 9

Nick Colegrave

3 Statistics: a journey that needs a guide 17

Gordon Drummond

Section B – Cell and molecular 27

4 Organ bath pharmacology 29

Emma Robinson

5 Small vessel myography 39

Tomoko Kamishima and John M Quayle

6 Mammalian cell cultures: the example of airway epithelial cell
cultures for cystic fibrosis research 49

Scott H Randell

7 Electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) 59

Paul Verkade

8 Fluorescence microscopy 67

Mark Jepson

9 Intracellular ‘sharp’ microelectrode recording 77

Helena C Parkington and Harold A Coleman

10 Single electrode voltage-clamp (SEVC) 85

Harold A Coleman and Helena C Parkington

11 Patch clamp recording 95

Neil Bannister and Phil Langton

12 Production of antibodies 105

Elek Molnar

13 Immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry 117

Elek Molnar

14 Immunoprecipitation (IP) 129

David Bates

15 Immunoblotting (western) 137

Samantha F. Moore, Joshua S. Savage and Ingeborg Hers

16 Applications of green fluorescent protein (GFP) 147

Mark Jepson

17 Fluorescent measurement of ion activity in cells 153

Helen Kennedy

18 Detection of exocytosis – real time 163

Anja Teschemacher

19 Viral vector transgenesis 173

Anja Teschemacher

20 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcription
(RT)-PCR 179

Lucy F. Donaldson

21 In situ hybridisation (ISH) 187

Lucy F. Donaldson

22 Methods of interference (antisense, si RNAs and dominant
negative mutations) 193

Allison Fulford

23 Transcriptome analysis: microarrays 203

Charles Hindmarch

24 Experimental proteomics 215

Thierry Le Bihan

Section C – In vivo / integrative 229

25 Behavioural methodology 231

Emma Robinson

26 Genetically modified mouse models 241

Nina Balthasar

27 Wireless recording of cardiovascular signals 247

Julian FR Paton and Fiona D Mc Bryde

28 Electrical stimulation methods 253

Jon Wakerley

29 Extracellular recording 261

Jon Wakerley

30 Antidromic identification 271

Jon Wakerley

31 Event-triggered averaging, including spike-triggered
averaging 279

Richard Apps

32 Axonal transport tracing of CNS pathways 285

John Crabtree

33 Cardiovascular methods: general considerations for human
studies 291

Erica A Wehrwein and Michael J Joyner

34 Measuring cardiac output in humans 299

Erica A Wehrwein and Michael J Joyner

35 Measuring peripheral blood flow in humans 311

Erica A Wehrwein and Michael J Joyner

Index 319

About the author

Dr. Philip David Langton, Senior Lecturer and Academic Director of E-Learning, Department of Physiology, University of Bristol
Dr Philip Langton is currently a Senior Lecturer and Academic Director of e-Learning in the Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, UK.?Dr Langton is an advocate for excellence in all forms of learning, teaching and assessment in HE. He is an enthusiastic undergraduate and graduate teacher, contributing to Medical Sciences and Physiological Sciences programmes. Finalist of ‘Bioscience Teacher of the Year’ for 2011, Dr Langton is passionate about providing an excellent learning experience for students in ways that are stimulating and rewarding for University staff, and disseminating innovative and high-quality learning practices.