Under the Spell of Genes

which has aided in detailed physiological and morpho-figures what is known about specific processes (exo-cytosis, for example). So, whether you are the type that logical studies of transmitter release. Three other systems where genetic manipulations have provided enor-strives for generalization or one that revels in the details, Neurotransmitter Release should prove stimulating. mous insight into mechanisms of synaptic function—C. elegans, Drosophila, and mouse—are described next. The general style of these three chapters is to first de-Venkatesh Murthy scribe the methods used to obtain mutant or transgenic Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology animals, followed by a discussion of different genes and Harvard University gene products identified from mutants. A final chapter Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 on endocytosis and vesicle recycling informs us about the tremendous advances made in this area in the last few years. Despite the stylistic and linguistic differences inevitable in a multiple-author book, Neurotransmitter Release Under the Spell of Genes is eminently readable. The references to primary papers are extensive, and the overlapping content of different Behavioral Genetics, The Clash of Culture chapters serves to reinforce key ideas. Another satis-and Biology fying aspect of the book is the integration of information Edited by Ronald A. Carson and Mark A. Rothstein from several model systems and organisms. For exam-Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press (1999). ple, the key components of membrane fusion—the 206 pp. $39.95 SNARE proteins and proteins interacting with them—are discussed in almost every chapter. Likewise, proteins involved in endocytosis—such as clathrin, dynamin, and Several years ago, one of our graduate students pre-amphiphysin—crop up in most chapters. In the preface, sented a journal-club paper that proposed monoamine Hugo Bellen, the editor of the volume, says that " most oxidase A as a candidate gene for what appeared to be chapters emphasize the thought process by which pro-an inherited, male-specific aggressive behavior in one teins are assigned specific functions rather than provid-family. With a skepticism that lies somewhere between ing facts about function. " This is largely true, and a a healthy scientific circumspection and the hubris of graduate student looking for experimental methods to youth, the student pooh-poohed the notion, but at the answer a question can reasonably expect to find a start-heart of it, I sensed the embrace of political correctness ing point in the book. at the expense of unbiased truth. Soon of course, muta-Genetic approaches are understandably emphasized tions in the gene were discovered, …