With the rapid and on-going development of In Situ hybridisation, a new edition of this book was needed. In Professor Darby the publishers found a very capable editor. He has gathered articles which, while conveying all the protocols you would need to reproduce the techniques in your own laboratory, are surprisingly readable.

Even for the experienced practitioner, there are methods in here that will catch you by surprise. The wealth of illustrations add to the enjoyment, as you gain a very clear idea of what to expect. It is a shame, however, that most are in black and white. The supplement of colour photos (and the page in the professor's own article) demonstrate the results most clearly.

As the summary says, if you are interested in hybridisation - whether of protein, chromosomes or even whole embryos - this is an indispensable manual.

(caveat: probably not a must-by for the general reader)