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Molecular Cell Biology by J a m e s D a r n e l l , H a r v e y L o d i s h a n d D a v i d B a l t i m o r e . p p 1187. Scientific A m e r i c a n B o o k s , W H F r e e m a n , O x f o r d . 1986. £42.95 o r £19.95 ( p b k ) ISBN 0-7167-1448-5 or 0-7167-6001-0 (pbk) Textbooks, like species, are engaged in a ceaseless struggle for existence where only the fittest are expected to survive. This lavishly illustrated offering from Scientific American has obviously evolved from the same family as Lehninger, Stryer, and Alberts et al. It clearly aims to occupy a similar ecological niche. It is a big, ambitious book which attempts to achieve a synthesis between Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics and Cell Biology. The authors conceived it to meet the needs of a oneyear integrated course covering some of the most exciting areas in modern biology, many of which have changed out of all recognition during the last ten years. The text is divided into four main sections. After a brief historical introduction, the first quarter of the book deals with the basic chemistry which commonly occupies the early part of a conventional biochemistry course. Only towards the end of this section do we encounter the new techniques which have transformed the subject in recent years. The authors seem to be slightly unhappy with this arrangement, and correctly suggest that many students will wish to skip over section I, in order to start with the real meat in section II. It is here that they can expect a treat indeed! The text is well laid out and superbly illustrated, following the style we have come to associate with the most successful textbooks in recent years. The overall emphasis is strongly biased towards eukaryotic cells, but the opportunity is taken where appropriate to make the comparison with viruses and prokaryotes. This book can be read for pleasure from start to finish, while the comprehensive index and the generous use of headings and subheadings will enable students to dip into it according to the requirements of their course. Many sections start with a brief overview of the material to be discussed so as to orient the reader before the authors embark on a detailed account, and there is a helpful summary at the end of every chapter. Section II covers nucleic acid metabolism in considerable detail, and includes R N A splicing, the structure of genes and chromosomes, the regulation of gene expression, and DNA synthesis, recombination and repair. Section III is devoted to cell structure and function, and deals with the plasmalemma, transport across cell membranes and receptor-mediated endocytosis, hormone receptors, the cytoskeleton and cellular movements including cell division, cilia and muscle contraction. There is a well-written account of nerve cells covering both electrophysiological and biochemical aspects, and the mechanism of sensory transduction as typified by the visual system. Other chapters deal with the mechanisms of ATP synthesis in chloroplasts, mitochondria and bacteria, and with the posttranslational processing of secreted proteins and the assembly of sub-cellular organelles. With so much material to cover, the treatment of some topics is necessarily rather brief, and the experimental evidence has often been sacrificed to achieve it. The pruning of the 'metabolic' chapters has been severe, and the section on metabolic regulation is naive to say the least. This may be no bad thing: these matters are extensively discussed elsewhere, and it is the modern nucleic acid biochemistry and the genetics which students usually seem to find most difficult. It wonder how much they will be able to recall in three years time! Section IV attempts to cover some of the major growth areas in modern biology, including embryogenesis and differentiation, cancer, immunity and cellular evolution. The section starts with a description of sporulation in bacteria, yeasts, and slime molds BIOCHEMICAL

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before moving on to fertilisation, gastrulation and organogenesis in both vertebrate and invertebrate species. There is a substantial chapter on cancer, covering viral, chemical and radiation induced carcinogenesis. Students are introduced to the characteristic properties of tumour cells and the transformation of cells in tissue culture. Oncogenes, retroviruses, turnout promoters and the possible role of D N A repair mechanisms are discussed in detail. The chapter on immunity describes the humoral mechanism at considerable length, with rather less space devoted to the cellular aspects where progress has been more difficult. Antibody structure and the genetic origins of antibody diversity are well covered, together with B c e l l activation, helper and suppressor T cells, the interleukins, immune memory and the role of antigen processing by macrophages. There is a brief discussion of the MHC genes. The final chapter on evolution is of necessity somewhat speculative but its thought-provoking questions should do something to wean students away from their mindless regurgitation of half-digested facts. My only substantial criticism of section IV is that it is much too short, and that it could usefully have been expanded at the expense of section I to include more material on differentiated tissues and on the interactions between cells. To be fair, some of this material can be found in section III, but it is rather scattered, and it failed to convey to me the way in which a finite repertoire of cellular abilities has been exploited to produce all of the endless variety found in living organisms. There is a slight danger that students may lose sight of the essential 'wholeness' of modern biology. Given the rapid progress which is currently taking place it is inevitable that many of the accounts in this book will become rapidly dated. For the present, however, they represent one of the most accessible sources of accurate modern information. No biology student can afford to be without this book, nor their teachers either. John Illingworth

The Molecular Basis of Sex and Differentiation: a Comparative Study of Evolution, Mechanism, and Control in Microorganisms b y M i l t o n H S a i e r a n d G a r y R J a c o b s o n . p p 216. S p r i n g e r - V e r l a g , N e w Y o r k . 1984. D M 98 ISBN 3-540-96007-4 Biologists have always been interested in the origin of life and fascinated by the diversity found in organisms. The classical works of Darwin on the origin of species and Mendel on the mechanism of inheritance contributed a great deal to the formulation and stimulation of interest in the theory of evolution. The underlying principle in the theory of evolution is that biological systems are not unrelated, ie all biological systems are governed by one unifying principle. Thus, although there may be extensive evolutionary diversity in organisms, they all came from the same basic life-endowing molecular processes that had to exist first. The acceptance of this unifying maxim by biologists has meant that information obtained through the study of microorganisms will be directly extrapolated to higher organisms. This means that the regulatory mechanisms for the control of the complex molecular and cellular interactions in higher organisms must have their rudiments in the essential life-giving molecular processes of simple organisms like bacteria. Credit must be given to the authors of this book for attempting, and to a large extent succeeding, in bringing together information obtained from different microorganisms through different experimental approaches ie those employed by physiologists, biochemists and geneticists. Thus Chapters 1-5 are devoted to conceptualising the developmental processes