For the 6th Edition of this highly regarded textbook devoted to lipids, the title has been modified from Lipid Biochemistry to Lipids to acknowledge the coming together of biological and medical sciences, the increasingly blurred boundaries between them and the growing importance of lipids in diverse aspects of science and technology. The principal aims of this new edition - to inform students and researchers about lipids, to assist teachers and encourage further research have not changed since previous editions. Significant advances in lipid science have demanded yet another extensive rewriting for this edition, with the addition of two new authors, to cover new knowledge of genes coding for proteins involved in lipid metabolism, the many lipids involved in cell signalling, the roles of lipids in health and disease and new developments in biotechnology in support of agriculture and industry. An introductory chapter summarizes the types of lipids covered and their identification and provides a guide to the contents. Chapters contain boxes illustrating special topics, key point summaries and suggested further reading. Lipids: Sixth Edition provides a huge wealth of information for upper-level students of biological and clinical sciences, food science and nutrition, and for professionals working in academic and industrial research. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where biological, medical and food and nutritional sciences are studied and taught should have copies of this excellent and comprehensive new edition on their shelves.

Lipids can usually be extracted easily from tissues by making use of their hydrophobic characteristics. However, such extractions yield a complex mixture of different lipid classes which have to be purified further for quantitative analysis. Moreover, the crude lipid extract will be contami nated by other hydrophobic molecules, e.g. by intrinsic membrane proteins. Of the various types of separation processes, thin layer and column chromatography are most useful for intact lipids. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is also rapidly becoming more popular, especially for the fractionation of molecular species of a given lipid class. The most powerful tool for quantitation of the majority of lipids is gas liquid chromatography (GLC). The method is very sensitive and, if adapted with capillary columns, can provide information with regard to such subtle features as the position or configuration of substitutions along acyl chains. By coupling GLC or HPLC to a radioactivity detector, then the techniques are also very useful for metabolic measurements. Although research laboratories use generally sophisticated analytical methods such as GLC to analyse and quantify lipid samples, chemical derivatii: ations are often used in hospitals. For these methods, the lipid samples are derivatized to yield a product which can be measured simply and accurately"- usually by colour. Thus, total triacylglycerol, cholesterol or phospholipid-phosphorus can be quantitated conveniently without bothering with the extra information of molecular species, etc. which might be determined by more thorough analyses. REFERENCES Christie, W.W. (1982) Lipid Analysis, 2nd edn, Pergamon Press, Oxford."

Ecological engineering is the process of manipulating farm habitats for the purposes of maintaining or increasing food production, restoring wetlands and other ecosystems, and conserving resources such as water and fertile soil. This book focuses on the pest management aspect of ecological engineering: how to make farmland more attractive for beneficial insects and less favorable for pests. This book brings together contributors from around the world who are leaders in habitat manipulation for the purpose of agriculture.Chapters explore the frontiers of ecological engineering: the authors describe methods including molecular approaches, high-tech marking, and remote sensing. They also review the theoretical aspects of ecological engineering and discuss how ecological engineering may interact with genetic engineering.