Preface/Front Matter

Abstract

Science should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

In 1959, Arthur Kornberg received the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for his pioneering work on the biological synthesis of DNA, an event that marked the beginning of a tremendous effort to understand how cells and viruses replicate their genetic information. This effort produced a new field of scientific research known as DNA replication, accompanied by an extensive literature that has accumulated over the past 35 years. In 1991, Arthur Kornberg and Tania Baker dealt with this vast and complex literature by publishing a wonderful synopsis of DNA replication that covers all aspects of the subject, but whose particular strength lies in its clearly articulated description of the many manifestations of DNA synthesis observed in prokaryotic cells, their bacteriophages, and their plasmids. The goal of this book is to provide a more detailed treatment of the subject of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells.

During the past two decades, advances in technology have permitted analyses of viral, mitochondrial, and cellular genomes that previously had not been possible. Interest in this field accelerated as it became clear that regulation of DNA replication was central to understanding regulation of cell and viral proliferation, events that have a direct impact on our understanding of human diseases. Given the complexity of eukaryotic cells and their need to coordinate proliferation with differentiation during animal development, it is not surprising that the subject of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells is more