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Like many genetic engineers, I have recently been receiving the atten tion of various venture capital companies, international drug houses and Members of Parliament. I will not discuss which of these approaches are most welcome, but it did cause me to consider the speed of advance in genetic engineering, and the implications of this rapid growth. There were few who anticipated it - only five years ago, most scientists thought applications would come at the end of the century, yet we see products such as insulin and interferon already available for clinical testing. In Europe in general and Britain in particular, this explosive growth in our own field has coincided with a general industrial depression and a marked reduction in funding for biomedical research. The brain drain from Britain is a serious matter, for we are losing the best of our younger scientists, on whom we would rely to train the next generation of molecular biologists. These volumes have come from British labs (mostly because I happen to be based in London, and my contacts and friends are here), and I feel that the quality of the con tributions also shows that our current research is of a high standard.
List of contents
Plasmid and phage M13 cloning vectors.- I Introduction.- II Bacterial plasmids.- III General purpose amplifiable vectors.- IV Specialized vectors.- V Vectors designed to promote gene expression.- VI Broad host range vectors.- VII Single-stranded DNA phages as cloning vectors.- VIII Summary.- IX Acknowledgements.- X References.- Vectors based on bacteriophage lambda.- I Introduction.- II The lambda genome.- III Replication and maturation of lambda DNA.- IV The recognition of recombinant phages.- V The expression of genes cloned into lambda.- VI Making gene banks with lambda vectors.- VII Conclusions and future developments.- VIII Acknowledgements.- IX References.- Expression of cloned genes in eukaryotic cells using vector systems derived from viral replicons.- I Introduction.- II Criteria for the design of animal virus vectors.- III Systems for the propagation of recombinant DNA molecules as virions.- IV Episomal vectors based on viral genomes.- V Virus-based vectors carrying selectable genes.- VI Vectors for the integration of exogenous DNA into chromosomal DNA.- VII Conclusions.- VIII Acknowledgements.- IX References.- A comprehensive list of cloned eukaryotic genes.- Key.
