Shizuka Uchida is a group leader in the Max-Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, Germany. He is a trained bioinformatician and a developmental biologist with a specific focus on adult stem cell research, and has extensive experience in combining the power of computers and data mining methods with state-of-the-art experimental techniques.

• List of figures and tablesAcknowledgementsAbout the authorChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: Databases and software to make your research life easierAbstract:2.1 Introduction2.2 Primary databases2.3 Secondary databases2.4 Datasets to keep an eye out for2.5 ConclusionChapter 3: How to program like a bioinformatician?Abstract:3.1 Introduction3.2 Setting up an environment3.3 Writing Perl scripts3.4 ConclusionChapter 4: Case study: C-It, knowledge database for screening evolutionarily conserved, tissue-enriched, uncharacterized genesAbstract:4.1 Introduction4.2 Concept of in silico screening4.3 Case study: C-ItChapter 5: Experimental validation: concepts and practiceAbstract:5.1 Introduction5.2 Proposed experimental strategy5.3 Step 1: validation of expression patterns5.4 Step 2: phenotypic analysis5.5 Step 3: molecular interactions5.6 Other experiments5.7 ConclusionChapter 6: Further application: adult stem cells and tissue regenerationsAbstract:6.1 Introduction6.2 Cell types in heart and their lineages6.3 Current status of cardiac stem cells6.4 ConclusionChapter 7: ConclusionIndex