The field of nucleic acids has grown to such a tremendeous size that it
is impossible to include all publications concerning the chemistry and
biological role of nucleic acids in an article of the length presented
in this "Volume. Therefore, it is necessary to select the most important
contributions and those not included "in well-known reviews. In many
cases reference is made only to the authors who summarized their
specialized field in chapters of the three volumes of "The Nucleic
Acids" (edB. E. CHARGAFF and J. N. DAVIDSON, Acad. Press, New York 1955
and 19(0) or to the "Nucleic Acid Outlines" (V. R. POTTER, Burgess
Publishing Comp. Minneapolis), where further literature and more
detailed discussions may be found. Facts and theories will be dealt
with, but not lists of references. Therefore it is not possible to
follow in all cases the historical development of an idea and to
admowledge all publications which might be important and inter- esting
from another point of view. Very little is mentioned about methods in
the field of nucleic acids.