Human Molecular Genetics 2T. Strachan and A.P. Read (Eds.), 2nd ed., Published by

Bios Scienti®c Publishers Ltd., Oxford. 1999, 576 pp. ISBN

1-85996-202-5. Price £29.95 (Paperback)

The phenomenal developments in gene technology and

human molecular genetics over the last few years have

spawned a plethora of student texts on the subject. Further-

more, there has also been a move recently toward texts

concerned more with particular aspects of these developments.

For instance the human genome, gene evolution and of course

gene therapy. But there remains a very real need for an all-

embracing textbook on the subject This is an excellent exam-

ple. In the space of 22 chapters all aspects of human molecular

genetics are covered from DNA structure, through gene clon-

ing, gene mapping, the identi®cation of human disease genes,

molecular pathology, cancer genetics and therapy.

In the Preface to the ®rst edition the authors wrote

``Human molecular genetics not only forms the cutting

edge of biomedical research, but at the same time it has

immediate application to the diagnosis of disease and has

great potential for treating disease.'' They suggest the text

could therefore also be of value to medical students. I think

this is true but only for reference to particular subjects. I fear

that for most medical students with an already over-

burdened curriculum, it is far too detailed and not suf®-

ciently medically oriented. But the presentation is excellent.

The text is easy to read and very up-to-date, and the infor-

mation boxes are an added bonus. The diagrams are a model

of clarity but sometimes the message in the captions tends to

be lost in formidable and unnecessary detail (for example

Fig. 20.6). A good teacher can guide students through the

jungle of terms and abbreviations, but the authors should

note this problem for future editions.

As a textbook of human molecular genetics I doubt it has

any serious rivals. An additional attraction is the plan soon to

link a problem book to the text. Also, all original illustrations

are freely available from the Bios Website (http://www.bios.-

co.uk). No doubt in future the entire text will be available in

this way! The authors should be heartily congratulated on this

venture which clearly deserves its success.

Alan Emery

Department of Neurology,

Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital,

Exeter, UKPII: S0960-8966(99)00128-5

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