conclusions have important implications for the generation of more detailed models about how different gene
products effect their roles in development.
While at times this volume reads like a methods
notebook, many of the chapters are well written
overviews of the experimental basis of their subjects.
Unfortunately, the volume as a whole falls short of its
intended purpose to illustrate the dynamic nature of
developmental genetics at a time when molecular
biology is beginning to complement classical genetics
and embryology. Perhaps a whole series of 'Primers'
would be needed to do justice to the field.
Whilst sympathizing with Warren's desire to keep
the 'maths' simple, I do feel that in a number of
instances the theoretical development could have been
carried a little further. For example, the idea of Fourier
analysis is carefully introduced and illustrated with the
harmonic decomposition of a square wave but nowhere
are the basic Fourier transform relationships stated.
Physics students in their final year of an undergraduate
course will surely be well-versed in Fourier methods
and would benefit from a chance to see them in action.
This omission is the more unfortunate, since the
Fourier description of diffraction is particularly elegant.
Indeed, some optics courses are taught largely on
Dr lrisli is a Jane Coffin Childs Post-doctoral Fellow in the
this basis (see that of the Open University, for
Department of Genetics, Cambridge
example). It is arguable whether Fourier reconstruction methods should have been covered. Personally, I
would have liked to have seen them in an Appendix.
PETER MORRIS
Certainly, clearer guidance as to suitable source material should have been given. Similar comments apply
Physics and the Architecture of Cell Membranes,
to the formula used for the wavelength of an electron.
by R. C. Warren. Hilger, Bristol, 1987. Pp. xi + 226.
Even the most non-physical of life scientists will be
aware of the limitations imposed by the velocity of
light, and there would have been no harm in giving the
In Physics and the Architecture of Cell Membranes,
accurate relativistic expression alongside the developWarren develops the basic principles required for an
ment of the non-relativistic, low-energy, formula.
understanding of the range of physical techniques
employed in the elucidation of the static and dynamic
The text has been organized according to techproperties of membranes. Two introductory chapters
niques. Discussions of particular membrane topics,
serve to describe the basic components of membrane
e.g. the fluid mosaic model and membrane dynamics,
structure and to introduce the specific membranes to be
are thus necessarily fragmented. Several crossstudied: namely, the erythrocyte membrane, myelin,
comparisons are drawn and Warren does a good job in
retinal rod disc membrane, and two examples of
comparing thermal analysis, NMR deuterium and ESR
membranes in which major protein components form
spin probe measurements of membrane dynamics.
highly ordered two-dimensional arrays, the purple
However, some opportunities have been missed. For
membrane and the bladder luminal membrane. The
example,
there is no mention of the substantial NMR
remaining five chapters deal sequentially with the
evidence
for
a non-freezing water component and the
following physical techniques: microscopy (X-ray,
discussion
of
the FRAP experiments to establish the
electron and neutron), thermal analysis, magnetic
fluid
mosaic
model
do not include the classic cell-fusion
resonance (ESR and NMR) and optical spectroscopy
experiment.
(IR, fluorescence and polarimetry). The scope of the
The book has a somewhat dated feel. This imbook is intended to encompass a number of underpression is reinforced when one notices that it is the
graduate disciplines ranging from biochemistry
through biophysics to physics itself. It is also designed
first edition of Stryer's Biocheimstiy that is referred to.
to meet the needs of the non-specialist postgraduate but
In general, there are relatively few recent references
is not intended as a research monograph.
and some emerging techniques have been omitted. I
would also have been happier to have seen a more
Warren has certainly achieved most of his declared
carefully constructed bibliography.
objectives. Theories are logically developed and his
Clearly the material selected for presentation admirstyle is clear. The text is generously illustrated with
ably
suited the needs of Warren's specialist underhelpful examples, some of which are drawn from his
graduate
course on which this book was based. But, for
own research work. One or two relatively minor
most
disciplines,
it falls between two camps. On the
considerations do detract from an otherwise admirable
one
hand,
there
is
insufficient detail for a postgraduate
text. Thus, in naming the commonly occurring memtext,
on
the
other,
it is too specialized for the majority
brane fatty acids, systematic names are not used or
of
undergraduate
teaching
programmes. I could not
even given parenthetically. This is unfortunate,
therefore recommend it for adoption by undergraduate
particularly in an undergraduate text, and leads to
unnecessary imprecision in describing the location of
course organizers. The above criticisms notwithstanddouble bonds in unsaturated lipids.
ing, I nevertheless found it to be a 'good read'. It is an
190
Book reviews
excellent first point of reference for non-experts wishing to know the basis of a technique and its modus
operand! without being immersed in unnecessary detail. It would be a welcome addition to the libraries of
the many disciplines involved in the teaching of membrane structure and function.
Dr Morris is a Lecturer in Biochemistry in the University of
Cambridge
TIM HUNT
Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, edited by
F. M. Ausubel, R. Brent, R. E. Kingston, D. M.
Moore, J. A. Smith and K. Struhl. Greene Publishing
Associates, New York and Wiley-Interscience, New
York and Chichester. Pp. 650. $140
Current Protocols in Molecular Biology is a big red fivehole punched looseleaf collection of methods, protocols
and commentary, designed to provide everything there
is to know about doing molecular biological research in
1988. The starting volume costs 3140, expensive as
such books go, and the publishers offer quarterly
update supplements "made possible by desktop publishing" for an additional annual subscription of $95.
We have not yet seen what these supplements offer;
will they describe new techniques or be revisions of old
ones? How many dollars per page? The parent volume
contains a card inviting readers to comment on and
correct what they find amiss in the present edition, and
to suggest what new topics should be included in the
future. This is a new departure for the genre, a
perfectly rational concept in publishing appropriate to
still-moving technology, and a very good idea if it can
be made to work. My main reservations concern the
size, weight and idiosyncratic pagination of the thing.
It weighs 3-3 kilograms (before addition of any supplements) and opens 70cm wide with a 9-3 cm spine.
Its 650 pages (according to the publisher's count) are
numbered sectionally, 1.0.1 to A.4.4. It is designed to
be propped up on the bench like a cookbook by folding
back the cover but, however you read it, it occupies a
fair amount of benchspace, and I prefer the Cold
Spring Harbor Manuals or Methods in Enzymology
from a purely aesthetic point of view. Books should be
books.
Still, Ausubel et al. costs less than a millicurie of
O'-[35S]dATP, and contains much good sense. Its
protocols are contributed by a wide range of authors,
including several distinguished practitioners of the
craft, mainly (but not exclusively) from Harvard
Medical School or the Hoechst Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital. It was pleasant to find a
very full explanation of siliconizing glassware by Brian
Seed, originator of many a clever molecular trick; there
is a first-rate section on enzymes of DNA metabolism
by Stan Tabor, inventor of the widely praised
Sequenase; Roger Brent wrote most of the sections on
growing bacteria and their viruses; Kevin Struhl describes his instant method for doing ligations in lowmelting agarose; Robert Kingston seems to have contributed more of the bread-and-butter protocols than
any of the other editors. There is a helpful Appendix
with lots of useful items, like how many micrograms of
pBR322 make a picomole of ends, and how to make up
Tris-HCl solutions. Probably the strongest selling
point of this book compared to 'Maniatis' (Maniatis,
T., Fritsch, E. F. & Sambrook, J. Molecular Cloning:
A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1982) is that it tells you in much more detail how
to perform the routine tasks of subclonings, restriction
digestions, ligations, nick translations, kinasings and so
on; the things that most people spend most of their
time actually doing in molecular biology labs these
days. 'Maniatis' was apt to assume that you were
already competent at that kind of thing. The commentary sections included by Ausubel et al. are very good,
as are the notes to indicate which are the tricky or
critical points, where you can afford to be sloppier, and
when to break for sleep. Alternative protocols for
achieving the same end are quite often presented and
explicitly compared, an excellent feature.
On the other hand, some sections of the Red Book
have serious competition. I would rather have Hanahan's exhaustive account of bacterial transformation, or
Huynh, Young & Davis' account of cDNA cloning in A
in Glover's DNA Cloning volume I, or Bankier, VVeston
& Barrell's accounts of M13 sequencing (Vol. 155,
Methods in Enzymology), because the originators of
methods usually have much more experience and have
fallen into more traps than even quite experienced
second-hand users of the same methods. Equally, this
book will not replace your (free) copy of the New
England Biolabs catalogue, probably the most useful
single reference book to have beside you at all times,
only 400 grams and a much prettier cover.
The publisher's flier claims that the book is comprehensive. This is hardly true. Though it covers a wide
range of standard molecular biological techniques,
from making libraries starting from DNA or RNA
from a wide variety of sources, through DNA sequencing to assaying your promoter in mammalian
cells, there is nothing here about yeast, for example,
despite editor Struhl's work with Sacchammyces cerevisiae, and the presence of a first-rate yeast lab at
Massachusetts General Hospital. This is a pity, given
the dearth of readily available practical information on
this organism in all the other books. Likewise, the
section on mRNA hardly mentions its translation at all,
and the only reference to this technique is in the section
on hybrid selection of mRNA, which tells you to buy a
reticulocyte lysate or wheat germ kit and follow the
Book revieivs
191