Critical Acclaim for Translational Control

"Reading any one of the relatively few teaching texts that aim to comprehensively cover the area of gene expression and its regulation will leave today's student with the misguided impression that a gene is only regulated at the level of transcription initiation, with just a few odd 'exceptions to the rule' in which a post-transcriptional mechanism might come into play. That this impression is a misguided one is amply illustrated by this excellent addition to a long line of outstanding Cold Spring Harbor monographs... .The editors have assembled an authoritative volume, which focuses primarily on gene control at the level of translation, and contains contributions from many of the leading researchers. ... By reading any one of the 26 chapters, the reader will be immediately aware that transcription is not the "be all and end all' of gene control. Thus, a gene might be efficiently transcribed and the resulting transcript correctly processed, yet that transcript might not be immediately available for translation on cytoplasmic ribosomes.

This is an important volume representing the first serious attempt to assemble a truly comprehensive, yet accessible, treatise on this rapidly emerging field."

-Trends in Biochemical Sciences

"While a general description of protein synthesis is easily obtained from any biochemistry textbook, there have been few comprehensive reviews of the area in recent years. This book, containing 26 articles on various aspects of translational control, is a welcome addition. It should prove useful for researchers, particularly graduate students entering this field. ...

The introductory overview by the editors gives a particularly lucid description of the origins and targets of translational control and sets the stage for the chapters that follow. Both a brief historical background and an analysis of future directions are described. The chapters are well written and give an overview as well as details of current research."

-The Quarterly Review of Biology

Front cover photograph: The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E, courtesy of J. Marcotrigiano, A.- C. Gingras, N. Sonenberg, and S.K. Burley [for more details, see Cell (1997) 89, 951-961].