Symposium reports 



85. 



J.PAPACONSTANTINOU and W.J.RUTTER, eds. 1978. MOLECULAR CONTROL OF PROLIFER- 

 ATION AND DIFFERENTIATION 



Academic Press, New York, etc. 35th Symp. of the Soc. for Devi. -Biol. XIV, 

 264 pp., 109 figs., 31 tabs., subject index. $ 19.50, £ 12.65 



Contents (abridged): II. Growth factors (3 papers). III. Factors affecting 

 nerve cell differentiation and function (3) , IV. Cell interactions in 

 blood cell development (4) , V. Cell interactions in the immune system (2) , 

 VI. Cell interactions in organogenesis (1), VII. Factors affecting differ- 

 entiation in lower eukaryotes (2) 



When this review appears it is more than three years since the symposium 

 was held (Asilomar, Calif., June 1976). Nevertheless, it is important enough 

 to be reviewed here. All papers are competent, short to medium-length re- 

 views or progress reports of recent work by prominent specialists, and most 

 of the work is highly sophisticated and holds great promise for the future. 

 Several authors place their findings in a wider developmental perspective. 



Section II has papers on epidermal and fibroblast growth factor, and on 

 serum factors and hormones. Two papers in section III deal with nerve growth 

 factor. The papers in section IV are concerned with stem cells, erythroid 

 and non-erythroid cells. In section V the findings reported in a paper on 

 lymphocyte differentiation induced by various natural factors could have im- 

 plications for embryonic induction. Other papers deal with extracellular 

 factors in pancreatic development and with the action of a morphogenetic 

 substance from Hydra. 



The volume is well produced and illustrated. 



DEVELOPMENTAL GENETICS, EVOLUTION (see also 22,40,78) 



Monographs 



86. 



W.J.GEHRING, ed. 1978. GENETIC MOSAICS AND CELL DIFFERENTIATION 

 Springer, Berlin, etc. Results and Probl. in Cell Differentiation, vol.9. 

 XII, 315 pp., 75 figs., 19 tabs., subject index. DM 98.00, $ ca. 53.90 



Contributors: Becker, Garcia-Bellido, Gardner, Hall, Illmensee, Janning, 

 McLaren, Merriam, Ripoll, Tokunaga, Wieschaus 



As the editor says in his preface, "The relationship of cell lineage and 

 differentiation is one of the most intriguing problems in developmental 

 biology .... The extent to which cell differentiation is determined by 

 cell lineage or by cellular interactions is still a matter of debate". About 

 fifteen years ago the problem rather suddenly assumed new importance due to 

 the "rediscovery" of gynandromorphs and mitotic recombination in insects 

 and the development of techniques to make genetic chimaeras in mammals. This 

 volume is the result of the ensuing intensive activity of many workers, gen- 

 erating a whole new field of enquiry. 



Everyone who is even superficially familiar with the field will realise 

 from the list of contributors that these are the leading investigators in 

 the area to-day. The ten chapters (8 on Drosophita and two on mammals) are 

 authoritative and critical reviews. As in previous volumes of this series, 

 no attempt is made to arrive at generally valid conclusions. Rather, various 

 points of view are represented, so that the reader has to use his own judge- 

 ment. This leads to considerable overlap among chapters, particularly those 

 on Drosophita, but this is no great drawback and in certain areas even has 

 distinct advantages. 



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