edited by J. M. Davis Oxford University Press (2002) 381 pages. ISBN 0-19-963853-5 £30
If you are planning to set up any functional cell culture facility, small-or large-scale, Basic Cell Culture could be very useful. The book has high practical and scientific value. It contains details about how to design the laboratory, and describes not only cell culture techniques but also other basic skills, such as how to load and run an autoclave. The text is compact and it is easy to find specific information. It contains useful tables and,most importantly of all, ready-to-use protocols for routine cell culture procedures. The book describes which cell culture medium and additional factors (e.g. growth factors) should be used for various animal cell lines. Different microscopy techniques are presented together with instructions for how to use microscopes, how to align illumination sources and how to analyse cell biology data statistically.
There are further descriptions of basic cell culture techniques, such as cell freezing and thawing, and the establishment and maintenance of various common cell lines. The book explains how to make primary cell cultures from different types of tissue and at various developmental stages, and how to establish immortal cell lines. In addition, it presents several protocols for modern DNA and chromosome analyses, together with brief descriptions of gene transfer techniques and cloning. Theoretical short overviews of, for example,the cell cycle, are followed by more detailed descriptions of methods to analyse these processes. This information can also be found elsewhere —for example, in original papers and, sometimes, in protocols from life science companies — but it is definitely convenient to have it all in one place. For work involving plants and invertebrate primary cell cultures, however, the information is lacking and other books should be consulted for practical advice on media and dissociation of tissues.
Websites for additional specific aspects of cell biology (such as protocols, image analysis, genome projects and bioinformatics), homepages of some of the larger life science companies, and educational resource websites are listed at the end of the book. These, together with the book itself,provide a valuable tool for teachers of cell biology.
With its low budget cover, Basic Cell Culture will probably not stand out on the bookshelf; however, this may have reduced the cost of the book to a reasonable level. Over all, the book provides a guide for any university or pharmaceutical company laboratory, with or without good laboratory practise (GLP) standards, that aims to obtain consistent cell biological data.
I suggest this book could serve as a handy reference guide and recommend it for managers of cell culture facilities and any person practising cell culture work. Although a lot of helpful practical information can be provided by life science and chemical companies, this book takes on a wider and more conclusive attitude to the cell culture process. Personally, I have placed it in the lab I am working in, and my colleagues and I have found it to be very handy when working at the bench or planning future studies.