[DIYbio] Re: Good Biotechnology Laboratory Text

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good introductory texts to applied biotechnology. I only have a BS in Chemistry, but I've had some biochemistry as well as having taken 8 credits of introductory biology. On the lab techniques side (particularly procedures unique to biology experiments) I feel like I would not be able to satisfactorily carry out the kind of experiments I'd be most interested in. I did some undergraduate research in organic synthesis, but that's obviously not very helpful for synthetic biology undertakings. I'm interested in trying to create transgenic yeast to produce butanol or other organic products without the use of petroleum and other things of that nature.

I was looking at this text, and it seems the closest of anything else I've found: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1405181737/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A33AYO0FZG6YH

I ultimately want to gain some degree of proficiency to where I could comfortably begin setting up my own lab to do some experiments in my spare time and not waste a lot of money on unnecessary setups, etc. I'd also like to get up to speed on the ethics side of things (I don't want to inadvertently do something illegal or harmful). How much education (time wise) do you think I have ahead of me to be able to undertake this?