Hands—on experts describe in step—by—step detail the key methodologies of contemporary peptide synthesis and illustrate their numerous applications. The techniques presented include prools for chemical ligation, the synthesis of cyclic and phosphotyrosine—containing peptides, lipoamino acid— and sugar—conjugated peptides, and peptide purification and analyses. Additional chapters detail methodologies and instrumentation for high—throughput peptide synthesis, many different applications of peptides as novel research tools and biological probes, and the design and application of fluorescent substrate—based peptides that can be used to determine the selectivity and activity of peptidases. A practical guide to the identification of proteins using mass spectrometric analyses of peptide mixtures is also included.