Book Review

Molecular Biology of Lung Disease

N Engl J Med 1995; 332:827-828March 23, 1995

Article

Molecular Biology of Lung Disease
Edited by Peter J. Barnes and Robert A. Stockley. 364 pp., illustrated. Boston, Blackwell Scientific, 1994. $100. ISBN: 0-632-03344-4

The objective of this book, edited by Barnes and Stockley, is to help specialists in respiratory disease who have little or no knowledge of molecular biology understand its power and limitations. The editors have set as their goal, “making the understanding of molecular biology as user-friendly as possible.” All in all, they have succeeded. This book can serve as a timely, useful, central resource on molecular biology and lung disease. The reader will not only become comfortable with the fundamental techniques of molecular biology but also gain an appreciation of how its methods are being applied to the management and study of lung disease.

This book is not just a superficial synopsis of the field. The book's 18 chapters are by experts on the topics discussed. The first seven chapters are particularly strong. All the major techniques of molecular biology, such as DNA cloning and nucleic acid and protein analysis, are covered in 132 pages, including references. Not only do these chapters provide an excellent education for physicians treating respiratory diseases, they also serve as a solid introduction to molecular biology for any health professional wishing to understand the techniques and terminology of the field. The next 10 chapters focus on applications of molecular biology to the study of lung disease. The final chapter is a brief introduction to gene therapy.

I found this book very well illustrated, which may explain its rather high cost. The figures are clear and helpful — a particularly important feature in the chapters that focus on the techniques of molecular biology. Extensive references are provided in most chapters. The index is detailed and allows easy access to specific information.

The large number of contributors does lead to inconsistencies that might have been resolved by more aggressive editing. Many chapters, such as “Finding Disease Genes,” by Iannuzzi, and “Tissue Specificity,” a discussion of eukaryotic gene expression by Morgan and Kalsheker, are superb. “Molecular Biology and Respiratory Disease” is misnamed, since it focuses only on viral diseases of the lung. Some of the chapters dealing with applications of molecular biology to respiratory disease, such as the chapter on the regulation of collagen and elastin gene expression, provide thorough overviews, but the level of detail makes it difficult to hold the attention of a reader not actively involved in the field. Finally, there is some degree of redundancy. For example, discussions of the use of restriction-fragment–length polymorphisms and genetic linkage, analysis of protein synthesis, and methods of in vitro hybridization are included in multiple chapters. However, these are key procedures of molecular biology, just as microscopy is a fundamental technique of cytopathology. In fact, the overlapping discussions of these procedures allow each chapter to stand alone. For instance, a reader wishing to understand genetic diagnostic techniques, whether they are used for the analysis of hereditary illness or the identification of infectious disease, can read the chapter dealing with the specific topic, without having to read the chapter that introduces and describes the basic methods of molecular biology.

Whether or not they have an interest in lung disease, readers looking for an understandable examination of the fundamental techniques of molecular biology in the study of human disease will find this book excellent — particularly its first seven chapters. Respiratory physicians and surgeons can use it as a resource for understanding tests and therapies based on molecular biology as they become integrated into clinical practice. For those with a special interest in the pathogenesis of respiratory illness, the chapters dealing with specific areas in the basic investigation of lung function and disease are useful reviews. They are also superb illustrations of how knowledge in the field of molecular biology can be used to study respiratory disease.

Charles H. Scoggin, M.D.
Somatogen, Boulder, CO 80301