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The present new version of this popular laboratory manual is at the same time the first one of this text in the English language - and this makes me even a little proud, as it reminds me of probably the first collection of monoclonal recipes in English, written by myself, which circulated for a couple of years in many laboratories. In the meantime many researchers have put enormous effort into improving methods for monoclonal antibody production. The proce­ dures have become more and more standardized and by this have more and more lost the character of magic secrets. Hinrich Peters and Horst Baumgarten, who had followed this good tradition already in the previous edition, written in German, suc­ ceeded in making laboratory tricks teachable. They had contributed their own experiences in cell culture and immunology, and were able to engage a number of experienced authors to contribute to the work. They were all willing to follow the general concept of this book, which contains a brief theoretical background for the methods described and presents the procedures in a highly organized structure. So the book has retained its shape as a'cook-book', which I especially like.

Vaccines have historically been considered to be the most cost-effective method for preventing communicable diseases. It was a vaccine that enabled global eradication of the dreaded disease smallpox. Mass immunization of children forms the anchor of the strategy of the World Health Organization (WHO) to attain'health for all'status by the year 2000. Vaccinology is undergoing a dimensional change with the advances that have taken place in immunology and genetic engineering. Vaccines that confer short or inadequate immunity or that have side effects are being replaced by better vaccines. New vaccines are being developed for a variety of maladies. Monoclonal antibodies and T cell clones have been employed to delineate the immunodeterminants on microbes, an approach elegantly complemented by computer graphics and molecular imaging techniques. Possibilities have opened for obtaining hitherto scarce antigens of parasites by the DNA recombinant route. Better appreciation of the idiotypic network has aroused research on anti­ idiotypic vaccines. Solid-phase synthesis of peptides is leading to an array of synthetic vaccines, an approach that is expected to attain its full potential once the sequences activating suppressor cells are discovered and the rules for presentation of antigens to T and B cells are better worked out. A new breed of vaccines is on the horizon that seeks to control fertility. Originally conceived to intercept a step in the reproductive process, they are conceptual models for developing approaches to regulate the body's internal processes.