This book describe techniques used to make recombinant DNA and can help you understand the processes involved so you can easily troubleshoot any difficulty when in bench work.
I bought because the course I am taking and I think it is useful to have it around.

Outstading primer for beginning to understand molecular biology and DNA biology. Edition is about 10 years old now, but still has important information on techniques used today. Nice book for beginning graduate students.

Still a decent, but hardly exceptional, introduction to Recombinant DNA. The writing is often hazy, especially if you are not familiar with DNA-speak. I find it a frustrating and unsatisfying read and scientific experience.

Update in 2003: they want $100 for this?!?

GMZ, PhD

It helped me as a lay person to get some insight into genetics and genetic technology. I knew nothing about it before that book and was quite surprised how far they already are. It shows genetic principles and many methods to operate on genes to learn more or to make them do what we want. But remember: It's totally outdated. Missing are a presentation how far genetic engeneering did already change the world. It's not just a few plants in a test lab, but tens of thousands of changed plants and microbes. DNA research is no more isolated from it's application. Whatever they discover is soon built into nature.

This book shows the basic concepts in the DNA study. It's good to have as a reference book.