The insights following the wake of the Human Genome project are radically influencing our understanding of the molecular basis of life, health and disease. The improved accuracy and precision of clinical diagnostics is also beginning to have an impact on therapeutics in a fundamental way. This book is suitable for undergraduate medical students, as part of their basic sciences training, but is also relevant to interested under- and postgraduate science and engineering students. It serves as an introductory text for medical registrars in virtually all specialties, and is also of value to the General Practitioner wishing to keep up to date, especially in view of the growing, internet-assisted public knowledge of the field. There is a special focus on the application of molecular medicine in Africa and in developing countries elsewhere.

Foreword Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Introduction
Barry V Mendelow and Penny Keene
KEYNOTE ESSAY 1: Defining Who We Are: DNA in Forensics, Genealogy and
Human Origins
Himla Soodyall
SECTION 1 PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR AND 13
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Chapter 2 Digital Concepts in Molecular Medicine
Barry V Mendelow
Chapter 3 The Anatomy and Physiology of the Genome
Marc S Weinberg, Natalie A Whalley and Michèle Ramsay
Chapter 4 Molecular Cell Biology
Natalie A Whalley, Sarah Walters and Kate Hammond
Chapter 5 Genetic Variation
Silke Arndt and Anthony B Lane
Chapter 6 Genes in Development
Lillian A Ouko and Michèle Ramsay
Chapter 7 Tools of Molecular Medicine
(a) Nucleic Acid Methods
Natela Rekhviashvili and Gwynneth Stevens
(b) Protein Methods
Alexio Capovilla
(c) Cellular Phenotyping and Flow Cytometry
Lesley E Scott and Debbie K Glencross
(d) Molecular Cytogenetics
Pascale Willem and Jacqueline Brown
KEYNOTE ESSAY 2: The Human Genome
Michèle Ramsay
SECTION 2 MOLECULAR PATHOLOGY
Chapter 8 Genomes and the Environment:
An Overview of Molecular Pathology
Barry V Mendelow
Chapter 9 Genetics, Genomics, Health and Disease: General Considerations
Arnold L Christianson
Chapter 10 Chromosome Disorders
Sarah Walters and Nerine E Gregersen
Chapter 11 Mendelian Inheritance
Anthony B Lane
Chapter 12 Unusual Molecular Processes that Impact on Disease
Tabitha Haw and Amanda Krause
Chapter 13 Population Genetics
Anthony B Lane and Himla Soodyall
Chapter 14 Complex Multifactorial Inheritance
Zané Lombard
Molecular Medicine
Chapter 15 Molecular Basis for Phenotypic Variation
Nerine E Gregersen and Amanda Krause
Chapter 16 Medical Genetics
Nerine E Gregersen and Amanda Krause
KEYNOTE ESSAY 3: Human Cloning: Should We Go There?
Barry V Mendelow
Chapter 17 Neoplasia: General Considerations
Alan C Paterson and Leandra Cronjé
Chapter 18 Oncogenes
Natalie A Whalley and Kate Hammond
Chapter 19 Mammalian DNA Repair
Alexio Capovilla
Chapter 20 Tumour Suppressor Genes and Inherited Susceptibility to Cancer
Kate Hammond
Chapter 21 Carcinoma
Alan C Paterson and Leandra Cronjé
Chapter 22 Leukaemias and Lymphomas
Tracey M Wiggill, Nicole S Holland, Pascale Willem and Lindsay Earlam
Chapter 23 Molecular Approaches to the Diagnosis, Prognostication and Monitoring of Cancer
Wendy Stevens
KEYNOTE ESSAY 4: Microbes, Molecules, Maladies and Man
Adriano G Duse
Chapter 24 Molecular Basis of Infectious Diseases: General Considerations
Wendy Stevens
Chapter 25 Immunology
Wolfgang Prinz, Mieneke Smit van Dixhoorn, Elizabeth Mayne and
Ahmed A Wadee
Chapter 26 Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Wendy Stevens and Maria A Papathanasopoulos
Chapter 27 Tuberculosis
Gerrit Coetzee and Hendrik J Koornhof
Chapter 28 Malaria
Theresa L Coetzer
Chapter 29 Influenza
Barry D Schoub
Chapter 30 Oncogenic Viruses
Patrick Arbuthnot
Chapter 31 Vaccines and Immunisation
Maria A Papathanasopoulos
KEYNOTE ESSAY 5: Drugs and the 21st Century
Nicole Holland
SECTION 3 MOLECULAR THERAPEUTICS
Chapter 32 Targets for Molecular Therapy: The Biology of Haemostasis
Marion Münster and Nanthakumarn Chetty
Chapter 33 Cellular Targets of Antiplatelet Agents
Nanthakumarn Chetty and Marion Münster
Chapter 34 Rational Drug Design
Grant B Napier
Chapter 35 Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia
Nerina Savage
Chapter 36 Gene Therapy
Marc S Weinberg and Patrick Arbuthnot
Chapter 37 Diabetes Mellitus
Nigel J Crowther
Chapter 38 Pharmacogenetics
Chrisna Durandt, Sahle M Asfaha and Michael S Pepper
Chapter 39 Basic Molecular Biology of Blood Groups
Wolfgang Prinz
KEYNOTE ESSAY 6: Molecular Research Case Study:
Developing Novel RNA Interference-based Therapy
Patrick Arbuthnot and Marc S Weinberg
SECTION 4 RESEARCH AND THE CONTINUING EVOLUTION
OF MOLECULAR MEDICINE
Chapter 40 Approaches to Research in Molecular Medicine
Michèle Ramsay
Chapter 41 Bioinformatics and Molecular Medicine
Andries J Oelofse and Michèle Ramsay
Chapter 42 Personalised Medicine: Dream or Reality?
Wendy Stevens
GLOSSARY
CONTRIBUTORS' BIOGRAPHIES
SOURCE MATERIAL AND RECOMMENDED READING
PERMISSIONS AND CREDITS
INDEX