The encyclopedia of molecular biology

105 take advantage of them, that surround proteins and enzymes with the same old fuzzy magic and use the old black boxes (plus arrows) to describe photosynthetic or respiratory redox reactions. The present book is definitely not one of them: its accounts of enzymology, cell respiration and photosynthesis are remarkably current and also wonderfully clear, The clarity comes, as we suggested earlier, from telling the entire, up-todate story and not leaving too many loose ends and unanswered questions. An additional feature that sets this book apart from many others is its approach to metabolic energetics and control. It is probably no longer valid to represent the regulation of a metabolic process as being vested in a single reaction, and Voet and Voet offer a useful section on the control of metabolic fluxes, which is well-integrated with the specific instances described elsewhere. In this connection, it is also promising to discover a short description of the rudiments of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, a topic usually omitted from biochemical textbooks, despite its evident power to provide explanations and, indeed, a language appropriate to the description of metabolic fluxes. Finally, as is often the practice, this book is accompanied by a rich collection of ancillary material, including a diskette of molecular structures, a manual of solutions to probems in the text, and a CD-ROM containing all of the book's illustrations. Although we have not seen any of these, it seems unlikely that they are actually harmful. The publisher also promises to continue the pratice of producing an annual supplement of some 80 pages summarizing ~the highlights of the preceding year's biochemical advances'. Rather than commenting on this remarkable goal, we simply note that a review of the 1991 Supplement appeared earlier in this journal (Biochemical Education 20 1992). To summarize, we also suggest that the success that this fine book deserves will be the result of its clarity, its modernity, the evident wisdom of its authors, and not anything else. J L Howland

The Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology E d i t o r in Chief, Sir J o h n K e n d r e w , E x e c u t i v e E d i t o r , E l e a n o r L a w r e n c e . p p 1165. B l a c k w e l l Science, O x f o r d . 1994, £99.50 ISBN 0-632-02181-9 The appearance of an Encylopedia of Molecular Biology must be a major publishing event. This volume, which weighs about 3.5 kg, contains more than 5500 entries. Of these, 217 are 'longer reviews' on selected topics, in fact a few pages in length, whereas others (about 4000) are 'shorter', dictionary definitions. The remainder of the entries comprise abbreviations, synonyms and cross-references. As would be expected, the entries are listed alphabetically, but in addition, the 'long entries' are also listed both alphabetically and by 'subject group' leg 'Bacteria and bacteriophages'; 'Molecular Medicine', etc). In addition to the Editors, there is an Editorial Board and about 240 'contributors'. The majority of these appear to be British and of these there is an impression that many of them work in Cambridge. As well as the black and white illustrations in the text (some of which are too large - - they waste space - such as the e/m of E coli on p 335) there is a selection of colour plates (eight in all) mostly of computer-generated images of macromolecules. Overall, the 'longer reviews' seem to be well-written and edited to an easily readable style, with 3-8 references on the average. One could make judgements and ask questions about the relative importance and weight given to the various topics. Thus opioid peptides and their receptors get 8 pages, whereas oncogenes only get 3 pages. 'Nucleic Acid Structure' which one

BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 23(2) 1995

would have thought was rather central to molecular biology, gets 7 pages, but on the whole the balance is about right at an average of about 4 pages for each of the topics. This really brings us to the question of what is 'molecular biology'. I think most molecular biologists/biochemists would be hard-pressed to give a definitive answer, and the Editors have similarly found it difficult (or perhaps impossible). Protein targetting, adenovirus, gene rearrangement, protein engineering and R N A editing (for example) certainly are, but what about the A B O blood group system, liposomes, insect neural development, epithelial polarity and nicotinic receptors? Some of these are 'cell biology' or 'development': should they be here? Do we really need all the amino acids as individual entries, at this level? I suppose a major feature of an encyclopedia should be that it is comprehensive, but this may also be its downfall if the going gets so heavy (in both physical and philosophical terms) that the weight and cost limit the audience who might benefit. The other problem that the Editors face is that this general area is not a static one. Daily, the amounts of information are increasing. One only has to survey our Monitor section to see how rapidly new discoveries are being made and new things given names. So the problem is dual: what to include and how to update? In the case of molecular medicine, obviously the more items included in an encyclopedia, the more attractive it becomes. In the present case we have some long entries (cystic fibrosis, haemoglobinopathies, mitochondropathies, muscular dystrophy) and some short entries (Menke's disease, histidinaemia, Pompe's disease), but it is obviously impossible to include the 3000+ known genetic diseases. Similarly with enzymes: terminal transferase is 'obviously' an important enzyme of molecular biology, but is hexosaminidase, and the same arguments apply to antibiotics and stains? To some extent I would counter the argument of comprehensiveness and say that a tighter definition of 'molecular biology' might have produced a smaller but potentially more useful volume. Certainly a goodly number of the entries could be found in a typical small (and inexpensive) dictionary of biology. By including so much here, a volume is produced that only libraries will buy. The Encyclopedia is also available on CD-ROM at the same price (although in the UK V A T is payable on top of this). The CD-ROM contains the full text including the colour pictures. More importantly, picking up cross-references and single words is possible. The entries are also able to be printed and there is an 'annotate' feature that allows one to add notes. Presumably the C D - R O M may also be updated at intervals: it is certainly easier to carry and store! Overall, this is indeed a major and worthy effort, that will be of value to many people, including students needing a definition and a brief review of a topic. The diagrams are good and there are very few typographical errors, and the Editors are to be congratulated on their imagination and diligence. E J Wood

Protein Biotechnology E d i t e d by G W a l s h and D H e a d o n . pp 365. J o h n W i l e y & Sons, C h i c h e s t e r . 1994. £44.95 ISBN 0-471-94396-7 or 0-471-94393-2 (pbk) Proteins constitute a major fraction of the mass of all organisms and are at the centre of the action in all life processes. Proteins provide structure, catalyse cellular reactions, and carry out a myriad of other tasks. As the majority of endproducts derived from the biotechnology industry are proteins and there is thus an ever growing literature available on proteins. This textbook emphasizes protein biotechnology by considering the various proteins produced, their sources, purification and their applications.