Preface/Front Matter

Abstract

Lambda II, like its predecessor, The Bacteriophage Lambda, attempts to put all the available information about λ into the form of coherent and easily accessible review articles. Research on λ has illuminated and continues to illuminate many aspects of gene regulation and function. We therefore hope that Lambda II will be a useful source of information for the student of molecular biology as well as for the hard-core lambdologist and his ilk. In particular, the papers by Hershey and Dove, by Hendrix, and by Arber should make the more specialized reviews accessible to the novice. Another major current interest in λ concerns its role as a vector for molecular cloning. Murray’s paper on the use of λ in cloning, together with those by Arber and by Arber et al. address this interest. These papers provide most of the information required for the effective use of λ in cloning experiments.

We are deeply indebted to Al Hershey, editor of The Bacteriophage Lambda. His book gave us a model to emulate and made recruiting authors for this volume an easy task. We thank Jim Watson for encouragement and for his continuing support of the kind of science represented here. The efforts of Nancy Ford, Nadine Dumser, Michaela Cooney, Mary Cozza, and Gail Anderson of the Cold Spring Harbor Publications Department made this book a practical undertaking and are greatly appreciated.