Abstract
In producing this updated edition from the previous book of the same name, Darby and Hewitson have extensively changed the content and in doing so have made the book much more relevant and useful to the veterinary pathologist. The new third edition focuses on hybridization of cells and tissues, instead of having a major focus on chromosomes as in the previous edition. In keeping with the Humana Press Methods in Molecular Biology Series, each chapter consists of an introduction, materials, methods, notes, and references. While the materials and methods are generally of sufficient detail for neophytes to perform the procedure, the references are frequently lacking. The first four chapters present a rather thorough discussion of specific techniques (tissue treatment, synthesis of DNA and RNA probes, and signal amplification) without a specific application. In these chapters, although advantages and disadvantages of various methodologies are discussed, only one is determined worthy to entertain a detailed protocol. There is no presentation of specifics of alternative methodologies, which would be helpful for troubleshooting. In fact, discussion of troubleshooting and alternative approaches are lacking throughout the book. This may be a consequence of the conveyed purpose of the book, specifically, protocols. The book is not a review. In assuming that the protocols for specific applications have been written by various authors who have had demonstrable success with that application, the researcher that is searching for information on that specific application might find the book more useful than the researcher generally interested in bringing this technology in to his laboratory. Interestingly, in the first four chapters, there are very convincing conclusions for procedural changes from the classical methodology, however, the reader loses confidence in using these techniques when they are very blatantly missing from the protocols for specific applications in the remainder of the book. Thus, the reader is presented with the quandary of whether to use a specific protocol as written or make adjustments based on recommendations from previous chapters. Although a book of this nature, can be expected to have some degree of disjointedness and redundancy, there is more than would be expected, such as too many chapters/protocols on whole mount embryo sections. Although each chapter stands independently, reading the book cover-to-cover allows one to gain a collective appreciation for various alternatives in methodology as well as interesting innovative procedural details.