The techniques which enable us to analyse and manipulate individual genes - known as Recombinant DNA Technology - have revolutionised life science during the past decade. It is with no small sense of pride that BSP announce the imminent publication of this truly historic text which combines the expertise and experience of two of the world's most eminent molecular biologists, one of whom, Professor Berg, was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering work in this area. This great work captures, for the first time, the sense of discovery, understanding and anticipation that has resulted from the fundamental recombinant DNA breakthrough. Unlike previous treatments of molecular genetics this book emphasises both depth of treatment and the experimental approach. Another innovation of the text is the explication of the subject within an historical framework that adds greatly to the logic of exposition and hence reader understanding. Beginning in Part I with a review of the status of molecular genetics in the early 1970s, the text then examines in Part II , the logic, concepts and general practices associated with gene cloning and the characterisation and manipulation of DNA. In Part III the results of the experimental paradigm are explored The changing perspective on the structure and expression of eukaryotic genes is fully brought home to the student who is then given insight into the organisation and origin of DNA sequences in eukaryotic genomes and led to an appreciation of the extent of programmed and stochastic amplifications and rearrangements that we now realise occur in what was previously considered a relatively stable genome. The unprecedented dynamism of the processes of life at the molecular level is the main theme of this monumental work.