80 BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
I m m ~ ® Arbeitsmethedeu
Edited by H e l m u t Friemel. V E B G u s t a v Fischer Verlag,
Jena, D D R . 1976. P p . 4 9 6 . 9 5 M .
This book gives a very comprehensive coverage of the techniques
which the active research worker in the field of immunology is likely
to want to use; both in cellular and humoral aspects of the subject.
Individual chapters are well set out; a brief outline of the
principles underlying the methods to be described and their
application; detailed lists of the necessary apparatus and reagents,
methodology, and results and pitfalls (very important in a practical
textbookl) are given. A fairly extensive and relevant literature list is
provided at the end of each chapter. The format of the book is
handy for use in the laboratory, being bound in soft covers and of a
size which makes it easy to accommodate on the bench.
Because of its rational approach and the wide range of topics
covered, this book should prove extremely useful to the advanced
undergraduate specializing in immunology, to clinicians or indeed
as a general handbook of immunological methods for any
department engaged in immunological research.
The reservations about the book are few, the quality of the photo-
graphs is not up to the standard of the text, and the literature
references are not in all cases completely up to date and appear to
only be as recent as 1974. Also, the limitation of the book to
German speaking scientists is a drawback. I feel that an English
translation would be merited, as the only equivalent text in English
is 'Practical Immunology', Hudson & Hay (published by
lllackwells), as 'Methods in Immunology and Immunochemistry'
will consist of six volumes and Weir 'Handbook of Experimental
Immunology' is a reference text rather than a handbook for
everyday use.
F. E. Katz
Department of Immunology
Kennedy lnstitude of Rheumatology
Bute Gardens
London W6 7DW
Bio~emical Cmleulmtlmm,2nd Edition
By Irwin H. Segel. J o h n Wiley & Sons, London, New York,
Sydney, T o r o n t o . xvii + 441 pp. £5.35.
Quntitmtlve Problems in the Bieehemleai
Sciemee8, 2nd FaJltJon
By Rex M o n t g o m e r y a n d Charles A. Swenson. W . H.
F r e e m a n & Co., San Francisco. xiv + 370 pp. £3.80.
In the late sixties the first American books on problem solving in
Biochemistry appeared and the pioneer pair now make their second
entrance in revised and expanded form. The most significant
changes have occurred in Sagel's text for he now eschews his
original format, in which the descriptive material was relegated to
appendices, for the more orthodox, and in my opinion much better,
inclusion in the body of the book. Further, some of the obvious
deficiencies of the first edition have been rectified. A chapter on
Chemistry of Biological Molecules deals with physico-chemical
methods for determining the molecular weights of macromolecules
and chromatography, sequencing and conformation are
introduced. The treatment of enzymes (perhaps understandably in
view of his recent major opus in this field) has been expanded
beyond recognition and is now a comprehensive treatment
occupying more than a quarter of the whole book; the theoretical
graphical representation here is commendable. The curious
omission of enthalpy and entropy changes and activation energy has
also been remedied and presumably Dr. Segel has returned from
the place "ten miles beyond hell, where the Devil himself cannot get
for stinging nettles", to which John Bayfles (175&1787) would have
had him consigned for publhthing the first edition without an index,
for we are now accorded this courtesy. Physically, both page size
and number have been increased to give a substantial volume of 441
pages.
October 1976 Vol. 4 No.
The text by Montgomery & Swenson has likewise expanded in the
intervening seven years, in this case principally to accommodate
problems more attuned to the requirements of American graduate
students, together with the requisite supporting text, Thus the
existence of two-substrate reactions is now acknowledged in the
enzyme kinetics chapter, there is an extended treatment of enzyme
inh~ition and sigmoidal kinetics are introduced. Another addition
is a section on binding equilibria of macromolecules. The net effect
has been to increase the book by 62 pages.
One looks in vain for any attempt to come to grips with SI units in
either book. For the generation of undergraduates now entering
university, after being catechized in the SI faith, a schizophrenic
condition presumably ensues. However, despite this shortcoming,
each book in its own way makes a contribution to the problems
approach to biochemistry; of the two, my personal preference is for
the Segel volume. The standard of production of both books is
commendable.
E. A. Dawes
Department of Biochemistry
University of Hull, U.K.
in D r q Mmalmilsm, Voi. 1
Edited by J. W. Bridges a n d L. F. Chasseaud. Pp. 286. John
W'dey a n d Sons, 1976. £9.80.
The spate of papers on the metabolism of drugs, food additives,
pesticides and environmental chemicals is almost overwhelming so
that a review of recent progress is very welcome. This book is the
first volume of a series in which it is planned to publish accounts of
developments in topics of drug metabolism, selected for their
current importance. The seven chapters of the present volume will
prove of great value to teachers s t r u g ~ g to keep abreast of recent
developments and will be most useful to research workers wishing to
maintain a wide general knowledge of the field while advanced
students of the metabolism of xenoblotics should read with
gratitude these clear, up-to-date reviews; undoubtedly the book
should-appear on their reading lists.
Appropriately the first chapter is an excellent account of the
principles of mass spectrometry and of its use alone or coupled with
gas chromatography, in the identification and quantitative
determination of xenoblotle metabolitu in blood and other tissues
and of those metabolites excreted in urine. It includes descriptions
of instruments currently in use and indieates the specificity and
high sensitivity of the methods now available which ensure that
there will be no shortage of material for future volumes in the series.
Topics reviewed in other chapters are the bioactivation and
cytotoxicity of drugs and the role of epoxides in bioactivation and
carcinogenesis. The formation of epoxides from a variety of
compounds, including polycyclic hydrocarbons which are widely
distributed in the environment, is described as are the metabolic
pathways which these compounds follow in the animal body. An
account of the induction of dru$.metabolising enzymes is given with
a critical assessment of methods now available for measuring the
level of these enzymes in man. The physiological effects of enzyme
induction and its clinical importance are described. The final
chapter includes in an account of drug-serum protein interactions
the theoretical aspects of drug binding, a description of methods
employed in studying this problem, the nature of the binding sites
and the biological significance of the phenomenon.
References given in the text and listed at the end of each chapter
are easily used and the conduclons summaris/ng each chapter are
helpful. Excellent author and subject indexes are provided.
The editors in their preface stated that they intended, in this new
work, 'to provide comprehensive authoritative, readable, up-to-
date and critical accounts by experts in the respective subject
areas'. They have succeeded admirably in their first volume.
Sybli P. James
Department of Biochemistry
University of Birmingham
Birmingham B15 2TT, U.K.