Restriction Enzymes: A History

Restriction enzymes cleave DNA at specific recognition sites and have many uses in molecular biology, genetics, and biotechnology. More than 4000 restriction enzymes are known today, of which more than 621 are commercially available, justifying their description by Nobel Prize winner Richard Roberts as "the workhorses of molecular biology." This book by Wil Loenen is the first full-length history of these invaluable tools, from their recognition in the 1950s to the flowering of their development in the 1970s and 1980s to their ubiquitous availability today. She is the author of several authoritative and widely appreciated reviews of the enzymes' biology.