Nucleic Acids in Chemistry and Biology

As the title indicates, the book has broad coverage of many facets of nucleic acids. It serves well as a textbook by introducing basic materials in a larger scope other than in depth. Some critics may address the issue that there are not enough details in some chapters, for example, Chapter 11, where physical methods are summarized. It can be argued, however, that its role as a textbook does not allow or need such details. The references should fill the gap given the fact that the students should have chemistry and biology background and be able to read further references. The glossary at the beginning is well organized for students to adopt the terminology. The subject index gives enough details for easy searching. The contents are rich in information. The references are very much up-to-date and carefully selected to reflect their impact in the fields. The colored figures are very well designed and deliver on the point. The bold font of some text gives a strange untidy impression. The titles may have gone unnecessarily too far in levels, for example: 4.2.1.2.2. The color of those titles takes some neatness away from the pages. The authors / publisher maintain a good website where corrections are made to the book. The book covers the chemistry of nucleic acids and its components impressively well in different chapters. It will help readers to get a sound understanding of the chemistry, its implications, consequences and applications. The typical synthetic methods of nucleoside, nucleotide and oligonucleotide analogues are presented clearly with appropriate examples. Nicely covered are also the chemical properties and reactions of these species and nucleic acids. The biotechnology and genomic science are delivered in a very readable way even for a chemist. Very often there are chemical principles behind these applications: DNA sequencing, drug binding to DNA, DNA-protein interaction, DNA intercalation, and many, many more. Overall this is an outstanding textbook for graduate students as well as industrial researchers. It almost exclusively outlines the science of nucleic acids with good references from which interested readers can further their readings.