MOLECULAR PATHOLOGY OF THE PRIONS

Abstract

MOLECULAR PATHOLOGY OF THE PRIONS Edited by Harry F. Baker 2001. Totowa: The Humana Press Price $99. Pp. 250. ISBN 0896039242 The sociopolitical dimension, in addition to the unique biology of prion diseases, have resulted in a slew of books on this topic during the last 5 years, many of them concentrating on BSE and variant CJD. These have ranged widely in scope, target audience and academic rigour. However, given the current upsurge in prion disease research, and the legitimate interest of the specialist and non‐specialist alike, there is a place, if not a need, for leaders in the field to give an overview of their recent work and to set this in context of the field as a whole. In this regard, Molecular Pathology of the Prions can be recommended. Despite the title of the series (Methods in Molecular Medicine), the editor notes in his preface that this volume, unlike its 1996 predecessor, is not a recipe book. Instead what we get is a series of concise insights into hot topic areas of prion biology written, for the most part, by the very researchers who have pioneered the work. There are a number of fundamental issues regarding the biology of these diseases on which a consensus is yet to be reached. This makes a comprehensive survey of scientific opinion difficult to achieve. Appropriately therefore, the volume opens with a philosophical contribution from Rosalind Ridley, a …