Living cells have evolved many ways of coping with metabolic events and environmental influences that damage DNA. These mechanisms, and the frequent progression to cancer that results when they go awry, are rev iewed in this volume by authors from over sixty of the world's leading laboratories. The topics discussed include DNA repair, mutagenesis and other damage-tolerance functions, checkpoint control, apoptosis, and adaptation. They draw from studies on human and yeast cells. Current, but with a valuable historical perspective, this volume has the depth and lasting value typical of this most prestigious series and is esse ntial reading for investigators of DNA replication, cell cycle control, and tumorigenesis.