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In the introductory chapter a brief summary of antisense research is given. Chapter 2 reviews a natural prokaryotic system where antisense control has been documented. The use of oligonucleotides for the control of gene expression now turns out to be a feasible approach. Since they can stick to RNA molecules and prevent their action, the design of oligonucleotides helps to understand their mechanism of action (Chapter 3). Oligomers can also selectively inhibit gene expression in virus development such as HIV. Retroviruses can cause malignant transformations by the expression of specific transforming genes (v-oncogenes) which are homologous to proto-oncogenes in healthy cells. The study of proto-oncogene function and activity using the antisense approach is therefore of interest. Chapter 4 has been devoted to proto-oncogenes, especially to c-myc and c-los. Among multi- cellular organisms, the fruitfly (Drosophila) was studied at early developmental stages by microinjecting antisense RNA sequences for developmental genes into embryos. Antisense RNA treatment turned out to be limited to genes active at the blastoderm stage (Chapter 5). Alternatively, transgenic animals (eg "shiverer" mice) were produced that carried copies of antisense genes. The plant kingdom offers even more possibil- ities, as plant cells can be transformed and grown easily. Antisense inhibition of genes involved in flower pigmentation in Petunia is described in Chapter 6, while Chapter 7 deals with antisense inhibition of starch synthesis in potato tuber. Un- expectedly, it was found that sense genes are able to silence their resident endogenous counterparts, a phenomenon termed co- suppression.

In ribozymes, which are RNA molecules with enzymatic properties, the minimal domain catalyzing self-cleavage is the "hammerhead" motif. Ribozyme cleavage improves slightly antisense action which finding may lead to the development of new generations of ribozymes (Chapter 8). A new research area dealing with antisense peptides is covered by Chapters 9-11. Antisense RNA is rarely translated, but if it is, the resulting small peptides show complementary hydropathy plots with sense peptides. The oldest and still most useful model for selective recognition goes back to some 80 years and is known as the lock- and-key hypothesis of Fischer. The principal idea of Molecular Recognition Theory is that different strands of DNA may encode complementary peptides forming a binding pair. Based on complementary hydropathicity, interactive peptide pairs were designed (Chapter 3). Native ACTH interacts with a second peptide termed HTCA synthesized on a complementary trans- cript of ACTH mRNA. Conflicting views with respect to Molecular Recognition (Chapters 9 and 10) are probably due to differences in definitions of antisense peptides read either from one or from the other end or direction. In the last chapter the interaction of sense and antisense proteins is described pointing out the similarities of antisense receptors with sense hormones. Discussion of co-evolution of hormones and their receptors is also worth mentioning in Chapter 11.

The book covering major aspects and new applications of antisense technology is suggested as a reference for a wide range of audience including molecular cell biologists, microbiologists, biochemists, protein chemists, geneticists and genetic engineers.

G Banfalvi

Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

by C A Smith and E J W o o d . pp 256. C h a p m a n and Hall , London . 1991. £14.95 ISBN 0 - 4 1 2 - 4 0 7 5 0 - 7

Molecular Biology and Biotechnology is straightforward and comprehensive; a 100% effort with bonus marks for the inclusion of self assessment questions with answers. A first reaction to this focused text book is that other texts cover the

same subject matter more comprehensively and in a wider context, but this is a perception that does an injustice to this well considered summary text. It is a true teaching text for the subject area and brings together the facts, critical historical experiments and anecdotal illustrations of medical applications. The uncom- plicated diagrams will transfer readily to lecture explanations. The compilation represents the best of the diverse reference sources you would be likely to use to assemble a contemporary course in molecular biology.

At 256 pages the text is portable rather than luggable as for standard texts (4 additional titles in this series expand the coverage to a comprehensive view of biochemistry). Newcomers will find immediate value in the three pages of abbreviations that chart a path through the alphabet-soup of this field. A two page glossary at the end also helps by concentrating on terms that cause difficulty to novices such as heterotrophic, operator and transformation. For skim reading, highlights are readily access- ible in text boxes, such as the concise description of the polymerase chain reaction in Box 1.2.

The chapter topics are: DNA replication and repair, Roles of RNA, Transcription and genetic code, Protein biosynthesis, Post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications, In- duction and repression, The eukaryotic chromosome, Mutation, Recombinant DNA technology, Cell culture and biotechnology. The chapter on cell culture includes both animal and plant approaches and the requirements for scaling to industrial production. Plant transformation using the Ti plasmid is also covered so the text has appeal across both agricultural and medical applications. The coverage of current approaches is paramount in the appeal of this book, but classic techniques are also included in a balanced manner. Cot analyses for example are well described.

As a lecturing resource, the book is highly recommended. Because of the good treatment of chemical structures it would also help chemists, who have migrated to molecular biology projects, to place their new field in more extended context. Niche courses in biotechnology may find that Molecular Biology and Biotechnology is a complete text for the theoretical background to be covered.

G Parslow

Physiology of the Bacterial Cell. A Molecular Approach

by F C Neidhard t , J L Ing raham and M Schaechter . pp 507. Sinauer Associates , Sunder land, M A . 1990. $43.95

ISBN 0 - 8 7 8 9 3 - 6 0 8 - 4

Since the first publication of the marvellous Alberts et al book (Molecular Biology of the Cell) in 1983, a wealth of splendid texts devoted to the structures and activities of cells have appeared. These books have largely concentrated upon eukary- otic cells. The excellent, Physiology of the Bacterial Cell therefore complements these books and enhances their descrip- tions of prokaryotes. However, this is not merely a 'molecular biology' of the bacterial cell. The first half or so is devoted to bacterial cell structure, then the text moves on to bacterial fuels and food, which progresses naturally to growth and populations. Further chapters describe genetical aspects, the bacterial cell cycle, differentiation in bacteria and physiological ecology.

Each of the seventeen chapters is prefaced by a brief introduction; subdivided by numerous side headings and ends with a summary consisting of a numbered list of salient points. All the chapters contain numerous line drawings and a sprinking of photomicrographs and electronmicrographs. Each chapter is followed by a series of 'study questions' (answers are thought-

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fully provided!) and some suggestions for further reading. The latter is in addition to a quite comprehensive list of cited references, many from 1989 and one from 1990.

I have a number of carps. Structures of potentially ionisable groups are often given in the unionised form, even when the main text or, indeed, legend names the ionised form eg pyruvic acid and pyruvate (page 134). This is bad practise and is confusing to students. Sinauer have not produced a book of any great attractiveness! While looks are certainly of much less value than content, this is a drab looking text indeed. The black and grey diagrams hardly enticing the reader into what is a clearly and interestingly written book. Students, especially, are now attuned to the use of at least one extra colour and an attention-grabbing presentation.

In conclusion, this is an extremely good 506 page account of bacterial structure and activities, well worth reading by students and professional cell biologists, biochemist.s and general biologists who wish to learn about these fascinating organisms.

C A Smith

Developmental Biology (Third Edition)

by S F Gi lbe r t . pp 891. S inauer Assoc i a t e s , S u n d e r l a n d , M A . 1991. $48.95 ISBN 0 - 8 7 8 9 3 - 2 4 5 - 3

The third edition of this widely used and attractive text has been made necessary because of the explosive growth of develop- mental biology triggered by the availability of molecular biology and immunological techniques. This is well illustrated by the fact that the first edition appeared only in 1985. The science or discipline has been around for a long time, but only now have many crucial experiments become possible. Much has therefore changed since the first, and indeed, the second, edition. The third edition is fully updated to include a number of 1990 references. Indeed, it is appropriate to commend the book for its excellent end of chapter reference lists. They give full titles, and as well as the most recent, many original references are included too, which is so important in this field.

The book is divided into three major sections each comprising a number of chapters. (As previously, it is concerned solely with animal development). These are: Patterns of Development (being fertilization and embryology); Mechanisms of Cellular Differentiation, and Cell Interaction in Development. The text is easy to read and would, I believe, be attractive to students. The large format has one or two half-tones and/or diagrams on practically every page, and these are without exception excel- lently chosen. A second colour is used sparingly but imagin- atively in the line drawings. This is very important especially in the section dealing with embryological development.

There is a great deal of biochemistry and molecular biology here (but practically no metabolism), but these topics are introduced very discreetly when necessary. Examples include nucleic acid hybridization, cloning, sequencing, blotting, site- specific mutagenesis and PCR. These examples illustrate the degree of impingement of molecular biology on developmental biology.

Another attractive feature of the book is the frequent appearance of 1-3 page sections entitled 'Sidelights and Specu- lations', which allow digression and the maintenance of students' interest whilst not interrupting the main flow of the text. Examples are "Why babies don't see well" and "Tumour- induced angiogenesis", but also some techniques are dealt with in these sections.

From a biochemist's point of view, I thought the text was very good overall and especially on introns, exons, promoters and enhancers, but not so good on molecular structures. The haemoglobin picture, for example, is rather primitive by modern

standards. The account of zinc finger proteins is rather naive and one would perhaps have hoped for better in this type of text. There are very few typographical errors but the wrong sugar stereochemistry is given for 7-methylguanosine on p 411, and the structure of retinol on p 687 lacks some double bonds (and why isn't it retinal since this section is about vision?).

For the biochemistry student there is much here that relates biochemistry to biology and this will no doubt be the trend in the future. There are also many medical facets that will be valuable to teachers of medical students. The book might be used as an authoritative resource to find out, for example, about fertiliz- ation, placental anatomy, foetal haemoglobin, antibodies, microtubules, fibronectin and collagen (although only up to type XIII), integrins and oncogenes, in the relevant biological contexts. The biological approach has much to commend it and the text is easily accessible.

Finally the book is a rich source of quotations (with their exact sources being given). Each chapter starts with two quotations, usually one 'lay' or historical, the other scientific. I cannot resist closing with one of them which is so appropriate to this field: 'Theories come and theories go. The frog remains. ' IT Rostand, 1960].

R B Green

Protein Architecture: A Practical Approach

by A M Lesk . I R L Press at O x f o r d Univers i ty Press , Oxfo rd . 1991. £22.50 ISBN 0 - 1 9 - 9 6 3 0 5 5 - 0

A practical approach to protein architecture? I wondered what would be the main thrust of a book with this title (a do-it- yourself guide to protein engineering - - or a comparative study of structural principles?). Unfortunately, the author too seems to have been of several minds, though his overall aim appears to have been to describe the use of computer-graphics to illustrate protein (and nucleic acid) structures, with examples of the results achieved.

He introduces the reader to a number of the computational procedures required to draw skeletal, ball-and spoke and space- filling representations of molecules, but the theory is far from complete, so that anyone intending to write their own graphics programs would have to look elsewhere. On the other hand, some of the algorithms are described in quite unnecessary detail for the reader wishing only to acquire a superficial knowledge of the procedures.

The book is copiously illustrated with stereo diagrams, whose virtues the author extols, which must make it a rather frustrating read for the not inconsiderable proportion of the population who do not possess stereo vision. I must confess that, even though I can see stereo well with the aid of a viewer I found the need to use it becoming rather tedious (no, Dr Lesk, it is not just a matter of "a little practice" to manage without a viewer - - physiology comes into it).

The author has made extensive use of the information in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank (in which some, but unhappily not all, protein crystallographers deposit their coordinates) and the book contains extensive appendices: 50 pages listing the entries in the PDB (which information is readily available over computer networks, where it is up-dated regularly) and over 50 pages of stereo pictures of the distinct protein structures in the PBD. Unfortunately, these have not been grouped into families and no attempt has been made to draw related proteins in corresponding orientations so that they may be compared. Altogether, the author has not been well served by the publishers in the layout of figures, which are drawn at incon- sistent magnifications (eg the two Watson-Crick base pairs are different sizes) and often separated from the relevant text

BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 20(2) 1992