64. 



P.S.CHEN. 1971. BIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS OP INSECT DEVELOPMENT 

 Karger, Basel, etc. Monographs in Developmental BIoIokv Vol 7 

 VIII, 230 pp., 25 figs., 8 tabs., author and subject Indexes 

 Sfr.72.00, $ 17.30, DM 72.00, £ 7.95 ^nuexes. 



The author of this monograph has oeen an active investigator 

 in the field of amino acid and protein metabolism in insects for 

 more than 20 years. In this book he provides a synthesis of the 

 more recent findings of insect biochemistry in so far as they 

 relate to the developmental transformations of insects. The 

 treatment is selective rather than exhaustive. A subject that 

 has been left out of account almost entirely is the chemistry 

 and mechanism of action of insect hormones. 



The text is organized very clearly. The first three chapters 

 deal with embryogenesis , larval development, and metamorphosis, 

 respectively. Within each of these the treatment progresses from 

 general considerations of nutrition, respiration, and energy me- 

 tabolism to sections dealing with particular classes of mole- 

 cules: amino acids, proteins, enzymes, and nucleic acids. A 

 brief chapter on developmental biochemical aspects of adult 

 life, including reproduction and ageing, is followed by a final 

 chapter devoted to gene regulation. The selected examples in 

 this chapter are mostly from work on Drosophila, and it discusses 

 the following subjects: genetic control of haemolymph proteins 

 and of eight classes of enzymes, cistrons for rRNA and tRNA, 

 analysis of some body colour mutants (eye colour mutants are not 

 discussed), and biochemical properties of four lethal mutants. 



The bibliography covers 45 pages; the most recent papers are 

 from 1970. The book is well produced but the price is surprising- 

 ly high. 



Symposium reports 



65. 



E.W.HANLY, ed. 1970. PROBLEMS IN BIOLOGY: RNA IN DEVELOPMENT 

 Univ. of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. XXXII, 454 pp., 125 figs., 

 3 pis., 43 tabs., subject index. $ 15.00 



Although the Symposium of which this book is the report took 

 place in 1969 (at Park City, Utah), it is considered to be of 

 sufficient importance still to be reviewed here. The Symposium 

 was attended by more than 200 scientists, almost all of them 

 Americans. The field covered was much broader than indicated by 

 the title. The Symposium was in fact a confrontation of a number 

 of leading developmental and molecular biologists, who discussed 

 their common interests, such as the synthesis, properties and 

 functions of DNA, nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA, and certain pro- 

 teins, in relation to gene regulation generally. 



Of the 19 papers eight bear no direct relationship to develop- 

 ment, although they are of considerable general interest. Among 

 the other papers there are three on enzyme synthesis in insects 

 (Ursprung et al., Doane, Kafatos), two on insect imaginal discs 

 (Gehring, Pristrom) , one on gene control in polytene nuclei of 

 insects (Clever), one on nuclear RNA in sea urchin embryos (Wilt 

 et al.), and two on biochemical events in early amphioian devel- 

 opment (Gurdon, Smith and Ecker). B.H.Willier has contributed a 

 mainly historical introduction, and W.J.Rutter a summary and 

 perspective of the Symposium. All papers are highly authorita- 

 tive and are followed Dy group discussions. 



The book is well produced and illustrated, and reasonably 

 priced. It is a pity that no author index could be included. 



37 



