Field of medicine: Genetics.

Format: Hardcover book.

Audience: All physicians, including geneticists, for whom most of the recent progress in molecular genetics has taken place since graduation from medical school.

Purpose: To incorporate the rapid progress that has occurred since the first edition of this book appeared in 1994.

Content: As a primer on gene therapy, this book provides a relatively nontechnical summary of the current state of the field. Many aspects of gene delivery systems, the strengths and shortcomings of these systems, and the types of clinical disorders that are being treated in clinical trials on gene therapy are discussed.

Highlights: The compilation of descriptions of gene therapy trials is one of the book's major contributions. The illustrations are simple but effective. The references, listed at the end of each chapter, are current, numerous, and appropriate. The book includes three worthwhile appendices, including additional references, a list of gene therapy protocols approved by the National Institutes of Health Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee, and a glossary. Geneticists and other physicians involved in the field will find the summaries of methods for gene transfer useful.

Limitations: This edition still includes a few minor errors, but these do not detract significantly from the book's authority and strengths. A lengthier, more detailed summary of basic principles of genetics would be a welcome addition. Some of the appendices are of greater interest to gene therapists than to most other physicians and could easily be omitted without detracting from the book.

Context: This well-written book clearly summarizes progress, principles, and problems in gene therapy.

Reviewer: Joel Charrow, MD, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.