Landmark Papers in Yeast Biology - Tapa dura

Yeast has been a preeminent experimental organism of genetic research for more than 50 years. Progress in the field has provided the conceptual framework that has driven experiments in many areas of biology. Landmark Papers in Yeast Biology consists of essays by prominent scientists on the context and significance of 71 carefully selected research papers, which are reprinted on the accompanying CD. The papers include early, hard-to-find classics as well as more recent advances in areas such as signal transduction, membrane trafficking, protein turnover, and genomics. This collection has unique value for all scholars of yeast and could provide the foundation for a literature-based course on molecular cell biology. As Jasper Rine notes in his eloquent introduction, the editors and contributors share the belief that "deep study of the agreed-on classics is the best training for learning how to recognize those contemporary papers worthy of our personal time...."

This book, dedicated to the late, great yeast biologist Ira Herskowitz, is a delightful collection of essays that summarizes landmark papers in key areas of the cell and molecular biology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The volume is designed as a retrospective covering the development of key areas over a period of some 60 years up to around 2002. The editors and contributors have done a terrific job in selecting the best of the best. For added value we have a DVD with PDF files of all the papers that are covered. What is often difficult but vital in teaching is to explain the historical development of an expansive field. Here is an extraordinarily helpful aid to that end, and a great read for anyone at the coal-face of yeast genetics. One of the most useful books I have seen in the field in years. Microbiology Today [T]his book contains a history of ideas and thinking within cell and molecular biology, in addition to a wealth of biological information about yeast biology. Who might be interested in reading such a book, and at whom is it aimed? One readership will be yeast scientists like myself who like to look back. However it seems that the intended readership is advanced students-presumably graduate research students-taking advanced courses in yeast biology or aspects of molecular cell biology more generally. The presence of (quite challenging) set questions based on the landmark papers at the end of each chapter certainly suggests a teaching role for the book...In my view it would be valuable for PhD students entering yeast research to acquire some understanding of the roots of the field and especially of the ideas involved, and this book provides an excellent entry point. Genetical Research