Monoclonals and DNA probes in diagnostic and preventive medicine. R.C. Gallo, G.D. Porta, and A. Albertini. Raven Press, New York, 1987, 256 pp, $39.50
✍ Scribed by Mark Skolnick
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 65 KB
- Volume
- 5
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0741-0395
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This book is a collection of papers reporting recent advances in biotechnology that provide important tools for diagnosis and disease prevention. The papers focus on recombinant DNAs and monoclonal antibodies as molecular probes. The papers on DNA probes range from a general discussion on gene mapping to applications in specific diseases such as muscular dystrophy, beta-thalassemia, collagens, steroid 2 1hydroxylase deficiency, and hepatitis. The immunology papers discuss the use of monoclonal antibodies in studying reoviruses and the detection of specific antibodies, tumor antigens, and oncogene products, among other related topics. The papers were presented at the BIOTECH RIA 86 meeting held in Florence, Italy, in April 1986.
The volume has the advantages and disadvantages of such a collection of papers. The majority of the papers are from Italian contributors and other members of the European research community. This affords the opportunity to view an important emerging field from the eyes of many top European researchers. The disadvantages are those often associated with a conference volume. It is a collection of articles, more like an issue of a journal than a coherent book. The articles are generally review articles, or articles that repeat first reports published in journals. The publication is photo-offset from pretyped manuscripts and therefore lacks the visual coherence of a journal or a book.
This volume does, however, offer the reader the opportunity to obtain an overview of the fields of monoclonal antibodies and DNA probes applied to diagnostic and preventive medicine through the eyes of select European contributors. For researchers involved in this area of study, it could be a great asset in determining the approaches, results, and literature references of their European colleagues without extensive library work. This volume therefore has a significant role to play in this field.