Book Review
1
was also an attraction to many other articles, and I found myself browsing the book quite extensively. This proved to be very useful because I picked up innumerable points about other techniques which were very worthwhile, on skin equivalents, adult rat hepatocyte culturing, and especially on endothelial cell procedures. At almost $100, this is on the expensive side for a laboratory manual, and its title is a little contrived by using the word ‘Engineering’. It might also suffer because it is a pot-pourri, and if the publishers have got the market research wrong, then the selected articles in it might not appeal to the individual enough to make them want to spend $100 for a lot of other articles of little direct relevance to their work. It also makes one suspect that this might have to be a series of similar volumes in which other selections are made. But then this series would have to compete with estab- lished series such as Methods in Cell Culture or Methods on Cell Biology. It might be difficult for some readers even to recommend it to be taken by their Institutional library. But, on balance, I think the book would be a useful acquisition. D. N. Wheatley Aberdeen ? 1999 Academic Press Article No. cbir.1999.0357 Fundamental Laboratory Approaches for Biochemistry and Biotechnology A. J. NINFA and D. P. BALOU 1998, Oxford Science Publications, Oxford. 383 pp. £23.95. ISBN 1-891786-00-8 This book is a biochemistry laboratory text designed for a one-semester course for advanced undergraduate and first-year graduate students in the U.S.A. The topics included in the thirteen chapters are: basic laboratory practice, spectropho- tometry, protein estimation, chromatography, elec- trophoresis, protein purification, enzyme kinetics, enzymatic analysis, ligand binding, recombinant DNA techniques, PCR technology and the use of PCs and the Internet for Biochemical research. Compared with other books in related areas, e.g. Practical Biochemistry (4th Edn by Wilson, K. and Walker J. Cambridge University Press), its scope is somewhat narrower, but it does include 25 laboratory-based experiments. Areas not covered in this book are lipids, carbohydrates, membranes and immunochemistry. The authors also explain that the use of radio-isotopes has been excluded for safety reasons. There are many features about this book which are highly commendable. It is well laid out and very readable. The explanations given are clear and concise without oversimplification. It was good to see chemical structures and equations used wher- ever appropriate and much detail which is not always found in standard reference works such as Methods in Enzymology. I found the explanation of how stacking gels work a particularly good example of the authors’ ability to explain a process with clarity. The protocols for each of the exper- iments generally included sufficient information for students to carry out the experiments without fur- ther instruction. Only in the experiments using recombinant DNA and PCR technology did sentences like ‘Your instructor will inform you of the enzyme concentration and the correct number of units to use’ appear. With costly reagents such as DNA ligase, it seems suitable that the instructor should exercise a measure of control. Each of the experiments has a check list of reagents needed. The experiments are carefully graded from simple exercises in the use of the spectrophotometer to experiments entailing the amplification of the glnL gene of E. coli from wild and deleted strains and subsequently using the E. coli glnL gene sequence to identify homologues in other bacteria. When I was initially flipping through the book, I was surprised to find a diagram of a Bausch and Lomb Spectronic 20—a spectrophotometer with which I remember stocking our department 25 years ago, and which we gave up 8 years ago in favour of spectrophotometers with a digital read- out. This gave me the initial feeling that perhaps the experiments might be somewhat dated. How- ever, on reading the book more thoroughly, I found that it contained a pleasing range of exper- iments, ranging from ones which might have been found in a practical class 25 years ago, but which are nevertheless still relevant today, to experiments using the more recent recombinant DNA tech- nology. The concluding chapter on using a PC and the Internet for biochemical research is an apposite concluding chapter, which assumes the right degree of previous knowledge for the average student that I encounter. I had one or two minor quibbles, but on the whole I believe this should prove a very useful book for undergraduate teaching, particu- larly with course units with a strong emphasis on hands-on practical experience. Lewis Stevens Department of Biological Sciences, Stirling University, Stirling FK9 4LA ? 1999 Academic Press 386 Cell Biology International, Vol. 23, No. 5, 1999
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Transcript of Book Review
was also an attraction to many other articles, and Ifound myself browsing the book quite extensively.This proved to be very useful because I pickedup innumerable points about other techniqueswhich were very worthwhile, on skin equivalents,adult rat hepatocyte culturing, and especially onendothelial cell procedures.
At almost $100, this is on the expensive sidefor a laboratory manual, and its title is a littlecontrived by using the word ‘Engineering’. It mightalso suffer because it is a pot-pourri, and if thepublishers have got the market research wrong,then the selected articles in it might not appeal tothe individual enough to make them want to spend$100 for a lot of other articles of little directrelevance to their work. It also makes one suspectthat this might have to be a series of similarvolumes in which other selections are made. Butthen this series would have to compete with estab-lished series such as Methods in Cell Culture orMethods on Cell Biology. It might be difficult forsome readers even to recommend it to be taken bytheir Institutional library. But, on balance, I thinkthe book would be a useful acquisition.
D. N. WheatleyAberdeen
? 1999 Academic Press
386 Cell Biology International, Vol. 23, No. 5, 1999
Article No. cbir.1999.0357
Fundamental Laboratory Approaches forBiochemistry and Biotechnology
A. J. NINFA and D. P. BALOU
1998, Oxford Science Publications, Oxford.383 pp. £23.95. ISBN 1-891786-00-8
This book is a biochemistry laboratory textdesigned for a one-semester course for advancedundergraduate and first-year graduate students inthe U.S.A. The topics included in the thirteenchapters are: basic laboratory practice, spectropho-tometry, protein estimation, chromatography, elec-trophoresis, protein purification, enzyme kinetics,enzymatic analysis, ligand binding, recombinantDNA techniques, PCR technology and the use ofPCs and the Internet for Biochemical research.Compared with other books in related areas, e.g.Practical Biochemistry (4th Edn by Wilson, K. andWalker J. Cambridge University Press), its scopeis somewhat narrower, but it does include 25laboratory-based experiments. Areas not covered inthis book are lipids, carbohydrates, membranes andimmunochemistry. The authors also explain thatthe use of radio-isotopes has been excluded forsafety reasons.
There are many features about this book whichare highly commendable. It is well laid out and veryreadable. The explanations given are clear andconcise without oversimplification. It was good tosee chemical structures and equations used wher-ever appropriate and much detail which is notalways found in standard reference works such asMethods in Enzymology. I found the explanationof how stacking gels work a particularly goodexample of the authors’ ability to explain a processwith clarity. The protocols for each of the exper-iments generally included sufficient information forstudents to carry out the experiments without fur-ther instruction. Only in the experiments usingrecombinant DNA and PCR technology didsentences like ‘Your instructor will inform you ofthe enzyme concentration and the correct numberof units to use’ appear. With costly reagents such asDNA ligase, it seems suitable that the instructorshould exercise a measure of control. Each of theexperiments has a check list of reagents needed.The experiments are carefully graded from simpleexercises in the use of the spectrophotometer toexperiments entailing the amplification of the glnLgene of E. coli from wild and deleted strains andsubsequently using the E. coli glnL gene sequenceto identify homologues in other bacteria.
When I was initially flipping through the book, Iwas surprised to find a diagram of a Bausch andLomb Spectronic 20—a spectrophotometer withwhich I remember stocking our department 25years ago, and which we gave up 8 years ago infavour of spectrophotometers with a digital read-out. This gave me the initial feeling that perhapsthe experiments might be somewhat dated. How-ever, on reading the book more thoroughly, Ifound that it contained a pleasing range of exper-iments, ranging from ones which might have beenfound in a practical class 25 years ago, but whichare nevertheless still relevant today, to experimentsusing the more recent recombinant DNA tech-nology. The concluding chapter on using a PC andthe Internet for biochemical research is an appositeconcluding chapter, which assumes the right degreeof previous knowledge for the average student thatI encounter. I had one or two minor quibbles, buton the whole I believe this should prove a veryuseful book for undergraduate teaching, particu-larly with course units with a strong emphasis onhands-on practical experience.
Lewis StevensDepartment of Biological Sciences,
Stirling University,Stirling FK9 4LA? 1999 Academic Press
