Writing this second edition of Biochemical Genetics proved to be more
difficult than I had anticipated. The fixed format of the series meant
that the addition of new material was made possible only by the dele-
tion of old. Since the book is intended for a student audience, I have
retained the historical approach of the first edition and added new
material only when it demonstrates a principle more effectively. At the
time of writing, we are witnessing an information explosion resulting
from the application of recombinant DNA technology to all manner of
problems. I have added a sixth chapter indicating the impact of this
work on our concepts of gene structure. I should like to thank Ed Byard,
Bill Evans, Charles Schorn and Ed Ward, colleagues in the Biology
Department at the University of Winnipeg, and Andrew Spence, a student
in the department, for their comments on the manuscript of the second
edition, and to reiterate my thanks to all those in the Department of
Genetics at the University of Sheffield who commented on the first
edition.