Experimental research using spermatozoa, a highly specialized cell with organelles involved in gene transfer, energy supply and cellular motility, has always occupied the forefront of studies in cell and reproductive biology. Several spermatological experiments have focused on the attraction of a spermatozoon toward the egg – sperm chemotaxis or sperm guidance. This process ubiquitously occurs in the reproductive system of many organisms. After its discovery in the late 19th century in plants, sperm chemotaxis is known to play a crucial role in fertilization success in both plants and animals. Spermatology has expanded in focus in recent years, as the structure of molecules relevant to sperm chemotaxis has been recently determined in several species of invertebrates and vertebrates, which promises remarkable progress for understanding events relevant to sexual reproduction. Reflecting upon these trends in the long history of sperm chemotaxis, Flagellar Mechanics and Sperm Guidance gathers leaders in the field of spermatology, who have presented their experimental research on the chemical cues behind flagellate behavior in a variety of organisms including bikonts and spermatozoa of marine invertebrates and vertebrates (fish, amphibians and mammals). Reviews presented in this monograph provide both basic and detailed information on the initiation and activation of sperm motility at spawning, sperm thermotaxis, and other mechanics such as mathematical models of a spermatozoon swimming. A comparison between features of sperm chemotaxis among different organisms is also given. Flagellar Mechanics and Sperm Guidance will stir interest in spermatology research among a broad variety of readers including researchers, Ph.D. students studying reproductive biology and teachers involved in advanced biology courses.

Fluorescence Microscopy is a precise and widely employed technique in many research and clinical areas nowadays. Fluorescence Microscopy In Life Sciences introduces readers to both the fundamentals and the applications of fluorescence microscopy in the biomedical field as well as biological research. Readers will learn about physical and chemical mechanisms giving rise to the phenomenon of luminescence and fluorescence in a comprehensive way. Also, the different processes that modulate fluorescence efficiency and fluorescence features are explored and explained.

In the book, The Origin of Life in Fire and Ice, the author proposes a simple and direct path which may have caused the formation of one of the earliest organisms described using observations found in scientific literature: the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). The path is proposed to take place in the environment provided by hot springs in the presence of snow and ice, thus creating the ‘fire and ice’ conditions. The author guides the reader through several steps that ultimately lead to the beginning of life on our planet as we know it. The journey starts from the delivery of water and organic compounds to the early Earth by comet and asteroid impacts, progressing to the formation of vesicles in geysers, the entrapment of clay particles, amino acids and other ingredients in the vesicles, the formation of template-directed peptides, the elongation to peptides with catalytic activity, the association of catalytic peptides with aromatic compounds (including purines and pyrimidines), peptide catalyzed development of nucleotides, polymerization of nucleotides to RNA, the RNA world, and the stereochemical association with amino acids and peptides into the RNA-peptide world. These steps allow the RNA world to develop a code which forms the basis of the genetic code and ushers in the advent of LUCA. The fiery and icy path to the origin of life is simplified in this book for anyone interested in this intriguing subject.