Biological Rhythms in Human and Animal Physiology

607 the past year or so. Althotuglh practical gene-transfer tlherapy may be only a distant reality, those interested in the past and current state of the art slhouild findl this book botlh interesting and(I informative. It contains some 35 papers (andl re-late(d discussionis) that were presentecl at a NATO-sponsored symposium helcl in Mol, Belgium, dluring September, 1970. As expected for a symposium collection, the papers vary coiisiderably, botlh in stubject matter and in overall q(uality. They includIe dletaile(l, and(sometimes eleganit, stu(lies on the meclhanisms of bacterial transformation; particular emphasis being place(l on certain strains of ptleliimococ-Cls(, hacrnophilits, an(l bacillus. Anotlher grouLp of papers considers the processes involvedl in the replication antd/or regulation of bacteriophage stuclh as X, c29, and qil05. The majority of articles, lhowever, (lescribe attempts to demonstrate mammalian ancd plant cell transformationi. The tuptake and fate of exogenously supplied DNA was dlescril)ed in deptlh anl numerous papers reportecl evidence for the integration of stuclmaterial into lhost cell DNA. Unfortulnately, witli one or two notable exceptions, the majority of reports do not deal witlh the critical quiestion as to wlhetlher or not the ingested gentic information is expressed. It is apparent that the question can be answered dlefinitively only tlhrough the uise of cell lines containing well-characterize(d genetic defects, preferably deletionl m11u-tations. One lhopes that suchi experiments will be fortlhcoming soon.sumned plhilosoplhers, and perennially vexed the imaginations of matlhematicians. As a construict, it defines plhenomena as diverse as hiistorical epochs, generations of life, mass-energy relationshiips, andl intervals of consciousness. Tlhe occidlental mind has dealt witlh this ambiguiity by (lefining time in terms of the linear units on a meclhanical clock. The development of stuclh externally definedl "real time," wlhile requisite for the demonstration of cause an(d effect andl thus of instrumental value in the generation of Western science and teclhnology, lhas suppressed Western man's awareniess of the cyclic nature of hiis biological lheritage and promotecd a progressive uincoupling of hiis life pace from hlis own endogenous cycles. For the scientist investigating life systems, ignorance of internal rhytlhms and their en-trainment by external cues, hias resulted in hiis underestimating the number of relevant experimental variables and complacency in the dlefinition of tlle requirements for a controlled laboratory environment. Biological Rhythms in Himiani (and Animal Physiology, initially publislhed as an NIT\1H monograplh entitled Biological Rhythmins in Psychiatry and Medicine,