All chapters are up to date until at least 1975; many go into 1977 to vari- 

 ous degrees, and some even into 1978. The volume is well produced and very 

 well illustrated. 



87. 



R.G.McKINNELL. 1978. CLONING, nuclear transplantation in amphibia; a cri- 

 tique of results obtained with the technique to which is added a discourse 

 on the methods of the craft 



Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. XII, 319 pp., 80 figs., 2 tabs., 

 4 pis., combined subject and taxonomic index. $ 22.50 



Almost all contemporary textbooks of developmental biology state that nu- 

 clear transplantation studies in amphibians have shown that all somatic nu- 

 clei are genetically equipotential and totipotent. This is always deduced 

 from the results obtained in Xenopus. The author of this book emphatically 

 points out that this conclusion is based on exceptional results and that 

 for it to be valid one has to prove beyond doubt that the donor cells in 

 question were indeed differentiated cells. He takes a critical look at the 

 current dogma on the basis of his own experiments and those of others in 

 Rana pipiens , which can indeed be interpreted to point in the direction of 

 nuclear differentiation. Since so much in this area depends on emphasis and 

 interpretation, some readers will be convinced and others not. Nevertheless, 

 the book performs a very useful function. 



Although the American work on Rana is overemphasized and the possible 

 role of discrepancies in replication rate between somatic cells and eggs is 

 played down somewhat, the book is well written and carries its message 

 across. The brief historical chapter is interesting and all aspects of nu- 

 clear transfer in lower vertebrates are well covered, as is some literature 

 generally not well known to embryologists. 



The lengthy appendixes describing the "craft" and its main object in 

 America are extremely useful. The bibliography of close to 600 titles is up 

 to date and the book is well produced and illustrated. 



S.OHNO. 1979. MAJOR SEX-DETERMINING GENES 



Springer, Berlin, etc. Monographs on Endocrinology vol.11. XIV, 140 pp., 



34 figs., 6 tabs., subject index. DM 39.00, $ 21.50 (cloth) 



Contents: I. Sexual dimorphism as a dispensable appendage of the sex- 

 determining mechanism, II. H-Y antigen and chromosomal determination of 

 primary (gonadal) sex. III. Nuclear-cytosol androgen-receptor protein 

 and hormonal secondary (extragonadal) sex determination 



Advances in the study of mammalian sex determination have been rapid in 

 the last decade and Susumu Ohno has been one of those most deeply involved. 

 His present monograph reviews the new evidence. The book ends with the sen- 

 tence: "The point of this book is that the mammalian sex-determining mecha- 

 nism consists of two independent regulatory hierarchies and that each is 

 placed under the control of essentially one master regulatory gene product". 



The two hierarchies concerned are those responsible for primary (gonadal) 

 and secondary (extragonadal) sex determination, respectively. They are 

 dealt with authoritatively and exhaustively in the two main parts of the 

 book, which centre on H-Y antigen and its genetic basis, and on the Tfm 

 gene and its product, the androgen-receptor protein. Part I makes inter- 

 esting and often amusing reading but does not concern us here. 



The book is printed on luxury paper but unfortunately has many printing 

 errors. The illustrations are of high quality. The bibliography of some 

 250 titles is very up to date. 



237 



