This volume, the first of two, provides a set of tutorials for molecular biologists using comparative genomic analysis tools and, in particular, aims to make accessible not only the commonly used techniques but also some of the underutilized ones. Thirty-three contributed chapters edited by Bergman (bioinformatics, U. Michigan) are arranged in four sections focusing on the visualization and annotation of genomes, sequence alignments, identification of conserved sequences and biases in codon usage, and identification and structural characterization of noncoding RNAs. Bergman notes in the preface that the larger question of identifying protein-coding genes has its own volume and is not addressed here. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)