A coordinated approach using biochemical and immunological tools has given us a better understanding of the structure of the eukaryotic surface membrane. From such studies has emerged the fluid mosaic model of membrane structure and this volume contains a collection of articles written by noted workers in this field. A major emphasis in this area of research concerns the changes brought about on virus-induced and carcinogen-induced tumor cells. The first chapter comes from a laboratory that was one of the first to visualize the distribution of transplantation antigens on cell membrane surfaces. Various methods are described for visualizing these antigens by electron microscopy. Davis and his colleagues then proceed to show how the antibody-induced redistribution of antigenic macromolecules led to the formulation of the fluid mosaic model. From Hakomori's labora tory comes a methodological paper describing a novel method of labeling the carbohydrate portions of the membrane glycoproteins that are exposed on the outer surfaces of cells. The two chapters reviewing the changes found on carcinogen-induced and virus-induced malignant cells complete the survey of the structures associated with surface mem branes. Thanks are due to Mrs. Carol Garafolo who helped immeasurably with the preparation of the index for this volume."

It was a warm, sunny morning in Rehovot. The sky was c1ear as it always is in June. As I walked to the Institute that morning, too many cars were passing by, too many people were hurrying onto the Institute's grounds. No one was smiling, acquaintances were recognized by a slight nod of the head. When I turned the corner, a few people already had gathered on the lawn in front of the Jacob Ziskind building. This number was to swell to thousands before the service was over. We were to be joined by the President of Israel, its first Prime Minister, many members of the cabinet, and other great, near-great, working colleagues, and residents of the town. The purpose of all this activity was written on everyone's face, and underlined by the casket that lay in the rotunda of the building. His wife was sitting there, his children, his brother, his students both past and present. One could hear the silence of the participants. I stood inside for a while, overlooking the rotunda. A long line of mourners filed by, offering their sympathies to the family. Suddenly a woman, dressed in black, fell to her knees in front 9f Rina, sobbing. It was the wife of the Japanese Ambassador to Israel. I moved to join the crowd outside. People were standing on the lawn, gingerly trying to avoid stepping on a flower.

Both science and religion are aspects of human endeavor that do not observe political constraints. It is therefore appropriate that contributions should come from many different countries for a series which attempts to chronicle developments in an interdisciplinary field such as membrane research. This volume is an excellent example of the diversity of thinking, background, and approach needed by the working scientist for his re search planning. From Canada comes a review by Silverman and Turner of the mech anisms by means of which the plasma membrane of the renal proximal tubule acts as a transport mediator. The two chapters that were writtyn by American scientists are excellent examples of the comparative bio chemical approach. Inouye feels he must apologize for being interested in the outer membrane of E. coli, but it is obvious, after a reading of his chapter, that no apology is required. On the contrary, we are grateful for his drawing our attention to this system and its unique properties. Holtz man, Gronowicz, Mercurio, and Masur are also on a consciousness raising mission in summarizing for us a number of integrated functions of membranes using the toad bladder as an experimental system. The other two chapters of this volume come from overseas. N orthcote has again demonstrated his capacity to integrate a complex and difficult field."

This volume contains the contributions to a symposium held at Gatlinburg, Tennessee, under the auspices of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in April, 1971. In the past, these proceedings had appeared as a supplement to the Journal of Cellular Physiology. Due to the nature of the subject ma terial and the relevance of the topic of the symposium to the readers of BIOMEMBRANES, it was agreed by the organizers of the symposium to publish the contributions of the partici pants as a separate volume in BIOMEMBRANES. It had been originally envisaged that, from time to time, the proceedings of a conference whose subject matter was directly related to the scope of this series would be included. The proceedings are being published exactly as they have been submitted to the Editor without the usual editorial re V1S10n. This is being done to increase the speed of publica tion. For the same rOeason, no indices have been provided since the time needed to prepare an adequate subject index would have unnecessarily delayed publication. Included in the proceedings are short reports of a number of workshops that were held during the conference. The editor has received excellent cooperation from both the organizers of the conference and the several contributors to this volume. If the experiment is a success, it is thanks to their promptness."

It has become increasingly clear during the last few years that metabolic processes in plant, bacterial, and mammalian cells can no longer be thought of as taking place in a homogeneous intracellular phase. Many enzymes and blood group and histocompatibility antigens have been found associated with subcellular organelles; some chemotherapeutic agents are active because they interfere with the biosynthesis of membranes, and studies of hormonal regulation involve investigations of various aspects of membrane function. The integration of structure and function has become one of the most exciting areas of biochemical investigation, e.g., the brilliant investigations correlating the mechanisms of bioenergetics with the structure of the mitochondrion and the biochemical understanding of the 'p-galactoside permease in Es- cherichia coli as it relates to transport phenomena across the cell surface membrane. Many other intracellular processes are being defined as membrane- associated phen