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discussed in the different chapters comparing the new technological methods to the conventional laboratory approaches. In addition to the diagnosis o f inherited diseases and prenatal diagnosis, Part II of the book describes the use o fmAbs in the diagnosis of infections and onco-haematological diseases, and contrasts these techniques with classical diagnostic methods.

The book is well designed and the sequence of chapters is logical.

Although the topics are not discussed in detail, the principles of the techniques used in the laboratory are described with the aid of figures. The text also gives an interesting discussion of the potential artefacts and pitfalls o f the different tests and proposes how the technology will develop in the future.

Overall, despite the lack of any detailed coverage, I certainly recommend this book to scientists,

medical students and general practitioners. It represents a new tool to bridge the gap between basic biomedical sciences and the application ofbiotechnology to clinical practice.

Alberto Albertlni Cattedra di Chimica Applicata alle

Scienze Biomediche, Universit~ degli Studi di Bresica,

Via Valsabbina n 19, 25123 Bresica, Italy.

Genetic engineering Genetic Engineering: Vol. 15 Principles and Methods

edited by Jane Setlow, Plenum Press, 1993. US$69.50 (xviii + 247pages) ISBN 0 306 44526 3

This series aims to follow closely the explosion of new techniques and information that is occurring in the wide field of molecular biology. Although the title o f the book suggests it covers principles and methods in genetic engineering, the contents o f the 11 chapters in this volume do not fitly reflect this. Although every chapter is well written and superbly referenced, the text tends to be biased towards reviews of the authors' fields, rather than practical discussions.

Taken on its own, the book does not seem to have any common theme: For example, although the slant is rather biased towards plant genetics (five chapters), the topics jump from discussions on computer neural networks for predicting protein structures (which ~ be beyond the comprehension of most readers) to improvements of the nutritional value of maize seeds, to microparticle infection of D N A into cells. Furthermore, I was disappointed that almost 25% of the book was devoted to a blow-by-

blow discussion of the origins, structure and functions of restriction-modification enzymes. Although these are central to the growth in molecular biology, restriction-modification enzymes are used as tools for D N A manipulation and a much shorter chapter would have been more applicable.

However, taken as a series of books (which have been following the growth of genetic engineering by publishing updated volumes on an annual basis since 1979), this volume adds to, and complements, the wide range of topics previously covered. The complete set of volumes would be ideal as a source of references and reviews.

Jonathan Murphy Public Health Laboratory Service Centre for Applied Microbiology

and Research, Division of Biotechnology,

Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK SP40JG.

An experimental introduction to genetic engineering

Genetic Engineering

byJ. G.,: VVilliams, A. Ceccarelli and N. Spurr, BIOS Scientific Publishers, 1993. UK;~14.00/US$28.00 (x + 132pages) ISBN 1 872748 75 9

There is no doubt that any serious biologist, chemist and clinician cannot survive without at least a basic grasp of the fundamentals of molecular genetics. It is with such individuals in mind (in particular the latter) that Williams et al. have set out to provide a gentle but rigorous introduction to the

concepts and technology involved in genetic engineering.

It is surely a duty of all practising molecular biologists to welcome novices into the fold, and to kindle their enthusiasm for this remarkable field of science. Genetic engineering is itself a discipline that combines a need for logical thought

and an aptitude for practical biochemistry. It is the practice of genetic engineering that forms the core of this text. The authors have chosen to introduce the subject by means of a stepwise series of analytical experiments to determine the structure and function of genes in both bacteria and higher organisms. There is an emphasis throughout on applied aspects o f genetic engineering, which will undoubtedly ensure that not only clinicians (for w h o m the text is primarily written), but also biotechnology managers and interested lay people will find the book useful and accessible.

The book begins with a crash course in the comparative structure of the genetic material in bacteria and eukaryotes, with an emphasis on the maturation o f m R N A and

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the principles of transcriptional regulation. In such a short space (as the authors themselves point out), it is difficult to do justice to the breadth o f work in this area. The result is a reasonable primer on gene structure and function, but not perhaps as enticing as one would like to draw the 'clinician' in.

The undoubted strength of this book is its treatment o f the subject from a practical viewpoint. However, the choice o f detail is often idiosyncratic. Nevertheless this chapter provides an otherwise concise and assessable introduction to gene mapping technology and strategies and offers the reader a feel for the experimental approach that is often difficult to convey.

The third chapter describes gene sequencing and polymerase chain

reaction (PCR) methods. The details are up-to-date, concise and the essentials are covered well. The second half of the book deals with the mechanisms of molecular cloning of genes in Escherichia coli and the construction o f gene libraries. Subsequently, the use o f eukaryotes and ultimately whole organisms are discussed in order to bring the general reader up to date in state-of-the-art genetic engineering. The authors conclude with a discussion of the prospects, in the near future, for genetic engineering in medicine.

Despite a handful o f minor complaints about the balance of detail with respect to the methods described throughout the text, the book achieves what it sets out to do, and is an ideal comparison for

newcomers to the field of molecular genetics. The topic is inescapably practically based and the authors have taken the 'bull-by- the-horns' and illuminated much of the subject by their style. I believe that the book is a useful adjunct to general texts for medical students, for example. However, as a primer for firing the imagination of students, it is difficult to compete with other stylish texts.

David Hornby Krebs Institute for

Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology

and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield,

Western Bank, Sheffield, UK $10 2TN.

One man's safety... Biotechnology and Safety Assessment

edited byJ. A. Thomas and L. A. Myers, Raven Press, I993.

US$139.00 (ix + 270pages) I S B N O 7817 0080 9

At a time when regulatory interest is focused on the assessment o f process safety and the safety o f genetically manipulated organisms (GMOs), it was surprising to find that this book barely touches on these issues. From the title it is not apparent that the majority of contributions in the book deal with the safety of products derived from biotechnology and, as such, the title is somewhat misleading.

The thesis o f the first half of the book is that the advent of drugs derived from the application of recombinant D N A (rDNA) technologies presents, in some way, new challenges to the toxicologist. It could be argued, however, that such drugs are no different from new ones derived from more conventional technologies; they both have to satisfy the same criteria o f quality, safety and efficacy. O n this basis, the book does not present as novel a view of product safety as it purports.

The first chapter, written by the editors, does give a useful review of

the development ofbiotechnology- based pharmaceuticals since the advent o f recombinant insulin, but it moves on to deal with therapeutic proteins, antisense drugs, glcosylated proteins and diagnostics in a somewhat random manner. Four of the next five chapters deal with aspects of product safety testing, primarily focusing on toxicological studies and clinical phamiacology and the related regulatory considerations. However, they appear to demonstrate that the approaches to the safety testing of rDNA-derived and conventional products do not differ significantly. In the midst of this section is a chapter on drug-delivery systems, which is followed by a chapter on the biotransformation of xenobiotics. This juxtaposition serves to maintain the confusion as to the aim of this book.

By contrast, the later chapters do address more some of the novel safety issues now being raised in biotechnology. Gene therapy, the subject of Chapter 8, will

undoubtedly raise significant safety and ethical issues as the use o f this technology increases. The issues relating to the use of transgenic animals and plants, and biotechnology-derived foods are with us now and are well covered by this text, making the latter part o f the book worth reading.

The book ends with two appendices. One is a useful glossary of biotechnology definitions and acronyms, and the other is a list o f animal models o f human disease that is interesting in itself but, as with other parts of this book, is something of a non sequitur.

Each chapter in the book is interesting in its own right and some parts link together well, but the mixture is unbalanced and serves to maintain the slight confusion experienced by this reviewer when first reading the title and opening the book. It is not clear at w h o m this book is directed. As a source o f information on approaches to safety testing of pharmaceutical and biological drugs it has some limited value, but the overall lack of balance and direction do not make it good value for money.

Peter Hambleton Public Health Laboratory Service

Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Porton Down,

Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK SP40JG.

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