【正文】 in academia, generally through a range of courses in industrial biotechnology and related disciplines. Similarly, a large number of textbooks are available to describe the applications of these technologies in industry. ? However, there has been a general lack of appreciation of the significant developments in downstream processing and isolation technology, the need for which is largely driven by the stringent regulatory requirements for purity and quality of injectable biopharmaceuticals. This is particularly reflected by the general absence of coverage of this subject in many biotechnology and related courses in educational institutions. ? For a considerable while I have felt that there is increasing need for an introductory text to various aspects of downstream processing, particularly with respect to the needs of the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Although there are numerous texts that cover various aspects of protein purification techniques in isolation, there is a need for a work that covers the broad range of isolation technology in an industrial setting. ? It is anticipated that Downstream Processing of Proteins: Methods and Protocols will play a small part in filling this gap and thus prove a useful contribution to the field. It is also designed to encourage educational strategists to broaden the coverage of these topics in industrial biotechnol