Dr T.A. Brown is a lecturer at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, where he also runs his own research programmes. He is the author of Gene Cloning: An Introduction(1986) and (with Dr S.G. Oliver) of Microbial Extrachromosomal Genetics(1985), published by Van Nostrand Reinhold (International).

This introductory text on genetics for undergraduate and diploma students of biology develops its story logically, rather than historically, so that the results of classical genetic studies can be fully appreciated in the light of our current knowledge about the molecular nature of gene.

Emphasis is placed on the underlying concepts of genetics and molecular biology, and their relevance to the biology of the cell as a whole. At appropriate points, the reader is introduced to some of the people who have made vital contributions to our understanding of genetics, and to the details of their original experiments.