Sticky Tech n iq u e In Situ Hybridisation: Application to Developmental Biology and Medicine (1990). Edited by N. HARRIS AND D. G. WILKINSON. Cambridge University Press: Society for Experimental Biology Seminar Series 40. 288pp. $59.50, f35. By Julian F. Burke Thousands of genes have been identified, cloned and sequenced. To assess the function and role of these genes it is vital to determine their site of expression in multicellular organisms. Furthermore, it is important to know when during development a particular site is expressed. In general there are two complementary approaches to this problem - firstly, immunocytochem- istry, and secondly, in situ hybridization. The latter topic is covered by this book. The chapters are contributed by the invited speakers who attended the SEB Edinburgh conference in 1989.

There are many books and laboratory manuals on in situ hybridization, hence the question is whether this new book makes a significant contribution. Its main strength is the broad range of subjects that are covered, a chapter each on the application of in situ hybridization to various organisms - sea urchins, Drosophila, frogs and mice. Although it may be unfair to list the chapters by the organism that is being studied instead of the question being asked, this tends to be the impression that one takes home from a book like this. There are also four chapters on plants, ranging from flowers to seeds and three chapters on mcdical applications of in situ. The range of detail in each chapter is varied, covering laboratory protocols to a general description. The most detailed techniques are found in the chapters covering maize gene expression, Xenopus develop- ment, neuropeptide production and sexing human chromosomes. As a basic book in the general application of in situ techniques this book is excellent. For a ‘how to do it’ book, you would be best advised to buy a volume that dealt specifically with your favourite organism.

Julian F. Burke, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9Q4.

Foul Tackling Chromosomal Aberrations: Basic and Applied Aspects (1990). Edited by G. OBE AND A. T. NATARAJAN. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 319pp. DM 198. By Bernard W. Stewart On the back cover of this volume, two paragraphs are printed. The first opens with the statement ‘chromo- somal aberrations represent an important type of possible mutations’ and briefly delineates the biological significance of this evidence of genetic toxicity. The following paragraph enumerates the contents of the volume with the preface that the following topics are ‘tackled’. The editors’ (and perhaps the publisher’s)

understanding of the word ‘tackled’ is crucial to a valid understanding of the contents of this volume. This reviewer was disappointed to find comprehensive areas of investigation ‘tackled’ in the present volume by inclusion of single research papers in the format appropriate to a peer-review journal. There is no doubt that several of these research papers are interesting. However, the impression given on the back cover, that the volume may be characterised as a reference work in respect of a broad area including DNA repair, chromosomal aberrations in meiosis and chromosomal aberrations as indicators of mutagenetic activity, is not correct. It is, therefore, difficult to know what advantage acquisition of the volume provides over routine reading of relevant journals.

The volume opens with a dedication to Professor Rigomar Rieger on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. An introductory chapter delineating the contributions which Professor Rieger has made to cytogenetics would have been a fitting tribute, notwithstanding Professor Rieger’s co-authorship of a paper two-thirds of the way through the volume. As already noted, most chapters in the book might be characterised as journal reprints. Exceptions to this are Mitelman’s summary of chromo- somal variations in neoplasia and Lloyd and Edwards’ overview of biological dosimetry after radiation acci- dents. The remaining chapters of the volume are difficult to summarise, accept in the broadest terms. Approximately two thirds are concerned with radiation- induced DNA damage. Reference to chemically- induced damage is largely restricted to evaluation of various chromosomal aberrations as indicators of genetic toxicity. It is interesting to perceive how a particular biological viewpoint, in this case consider- ation of chromosomal aberrations, may give a different perspective. Characterisation of tobacco smoke as ‘clastogenic’ is a perspective that is distinct from that operative for much other work on this significant carcinogen.

This volume is not a reference work on chromosomal aberrations. Its publication may well be a lasting expression of an interesting symposium. As such, it will be of value to the participants. However, its acquisition by libraries or by individuals cannot be recommended because the information contained should, and un- doubtedly will, appear in the same form in research journals.

Bernard W. Stewart, Children’s Leukaemia Cancer Research Unit, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

Aren’t Insects Invertebrates? Reproductive Biology of Invertebrates, vol. IV, pt B (1990). Edited by K. G. AND R. G. ADIYODI. John Wiley & Sons. 527pp. f75. By Janet Moore Reproductive Biology of lnvertebrutes is a useful and

carefully planned compilation, for specialist workers rather than for students, with experts contributing chapters on each phylum. The fourth volume in the series concerns oocyte maturation, fertilisation, early development and parental care: the present book (Clitellate annelids to Urochordates) is the second and final part of this volume. The contents may be considered in four sections: clitellate annelids, ‘minor phyla’, arthropod phyla and Echinoderms with Uro- chordates.

Perhaps it is unfortunate to separate the annelids into different volumes, but within the Clitellata, generalis- ations do for once appear to hold. There is uniformity in that fertilisation is internal (or intra-cocoon), the eggs are relatively yolky, larvae are absent and adults are hermaphrodite. There is reduced opportunity for experimentation and the account inevitably cannot match the riches obtained from Polychaetes. Descrip- tion derives from an earlier era of embryology with such terms as ‘determinate’ and ‘not absolutely mosaic’.

Minor phyla (an unfairly pejorative description of which the authors are not guilty) covered are Pogonophora, Tardigrada, Pentastoma (here Pentasto- mida), Phorona (Phoronida) , Bryozoa (which surpris- ingly includes Entoprocta), Brachiopoda and Chaeto- gnatha. For those groups where relatively little is known about early development, it is especially valuable to have a summary of available information. Further, phylogenetic relationships have largely been defined in terms of early embryology, and some of these phyla are puzzles or postulated bridges. For the Pogonophora, for example, available information (mainly concerning Siboglinum species) appears to justify classification close to Annelida. Phorona remain controversial. Chaetognaths are entirely hermaphro- dite, and the interest of this comprehensive review of their reproduction arises more from consequences of this fact than from any light thrown on evolutionary relationships. In general, detailed study of early development confirms the impression that convergent evolution is a phenomenon so common that develop- mental resemblance cannot be assumed to prove close evolutionary relationship.

Arthropod phyla discussed include Onychophora (mostly with some degree of viviparity but with remarkably variable early development) Chelicerata (an account concerned primarily with sperm transfer) and Crustacea (ripe for investigation by modern techniques). The total omission of Insecta is startling. No doubt this stems from an excess of information: the contribution of work on Drosuphila to our understand- ing of the genetic control of development could alone fill a volume. (I was guilty of the same omission in my final degree papers - ‘Since insects are the largest and most important group of animals’ said Professor Wigglesworth ‘perhaps you were well advised’). Insects are also omitted from earlier volumes of this work, except 3, ‘Accessory sex glands’. A statement concern-

ing the omission would be welcome, and perhaps. as well, a qualification of the assertion that (no other group of invertebrates has been as well studies as the Echinodermata’ .

The chapter on Echinoderms provides a particularly useful summary of the incorporation of molecular and cell biology techniques with the riches of older experimental results on these most accessible eggs and embryos, with discussion of the role of Ca++ ions and the storage of maternal mRNA. This section, with 25 pages of rcferences, is perhaps the most valuable in the entire book. The chapter on Ascidiacea similarly emphasises current and recent investigation. Work on the remaining Urochordates is still primarily descrip- tive; a new full account of Oikopleura dioica is welcome.

One must conclude with gratitude to K.G. and R. G. Akiyodi and good wishes for their future volumes.

Janet Moore, Dept. of Zoology, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.

The Chicken, and the Egg The Avian Mudel in Developmental Biology: from Organism to Genes (1990). Edited by N. LE DOUARIN, F. DIETERLEN-LIEVKE AND J. SMITH. Editions du CNRS, Paris. 319pp. 250 FFr. By Peter G. H. Clarke As Aristotle realised, avian embryos are the ideal objects for experimental studies. They are readily accessible for experimental manipulation throughout the whole period of morphogenesis and organogenesis, and yet they develop according to essentially the same rules as mammaIs. Over the last two decades, the use of avian embryos has been rendered all the more attractive by the discovery that cells grafted from quails into chicks can be distinguished on the basis of heterochromatic DNA associated with the quail nucleoli. This simple fact has opened the way for a wide range of cell tracing experiments designed to reveal where particular cells come from and how they migrate, and to unravel the contributions of cellular origins and of subsequent interactions in the determination of phenotype.

The present ‘camera-quick’, multi-author volume stems from an EMBO workshop on avian embryo manipulation, held in December 1989 in the very heartland of quail-to-chick transplantation, the ‘Tnstitut d’Embryologie Cellulaire et MolCculaire’ of the CNRS in the Parisian suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne. The central role of the host institute is illustrated by the fact that at least 11 of the 23 chapters report work done at Nogent, and 3 more are by people who had previously worked thcre. Although the book is in English, we are reminded of its Parisian origins by the fact that the chapter summaries are in both English and French.

There are four sections. The first, ‘Developmental