Gene Cloning and DNA Analysis: An Introduction, 5th ed

Book Review:

Terence A. Brown.

Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. 2006. 386 pp. $69.95.

The textbook that became almost a classic in the field of molecular genetics and gene cloning deserved to be revised and published in this fifth edition. It is always curious to understand how such a book can survive in the ocean of special literature that has flooded the shelves of bookstores and libraries over the last 2 decades and, of course, observe which ones are written by the successful authors. The book's first edition emerged as an introductory text in 1986—at the time when recombinant DNA technology had matured and dominated, whereas new breakthrough techniques, like PCR and large-scale programs like the Human Genome Project were only at a conceptual stage. And only 5 years passed since Terry Brown had joined the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology as a postdoctoral researcher. As stated at The University of Manchester Web site, he has remained in Manchester ever since, becoming the UK's first Professor of Biomolecular Archaeology in 2000 and one of the group leaders at Faculty of Life Sciences and Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre. At present, Terry Brown is the author of a number of papers and books (including also Genomes and Essential Molecular Biology: A Practical Approach) and a prominent figure in archaeogenetics...