Developmental Biology Using Purified Genes is a compilation of papers presented at the 1981 ICN-UCLA Symposia on Developmental Biology Using Purified Genes, held in Keystone, Colorado. Contributors representing a wide range of disciplines explore the mechanisms underlying gene control of development and explain how purified genes are transcribed in cells, how DNA sequences and non-DNA molecules regulate development, and how gene-control molecules or other developmental determinants are unequally distributed among embryonic cells. Organized into nine sections comprised of 54 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the mechanism by which gene activity is regionally controlled and its role in development. It then proceeds with a discussion on eukaryotic genes and their structure, including the collagen gene and the albumin gene family. The next chapters focus on the transcription and translation of yolk protein mRNA in the fat bodies of Drosophila, the organization and expression of the actin multi-gene family in Dictyostelium, the cDNA clones encoding mouse transplantation antigens, and the role of double minute chromosomes in unstable methotrexate resistance. The book also introduces the nucleosome core particle, regulatory factors involved in the transcription of mouse ribosomal genes, and developmental control of 5S RNA gene expression before concluding with a chapter on synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides and their use in the isolation of specific cloned DNA sequences. This book will be of interest to microbiologists, molecular biologists, embryologists, geneticists, and researchers working in the fields of genetics and developmental biology.