Murphy (U. of Glamorgan, Wales) presents a textbook for graduate and senior undergraduate students in biology, plant science, agriculture, biotechnology, and similar fields. It provides a modern perspective on plants both as biological organisms and as resources for people to exploit, emphasizing how biotechnology can be used to manipulate plant processes for the benefit of humanity. He covers plants and their genomes; how plants function; how plants are manipulated; and plants, society, and the future. Distributed in the US by Stylus Publishing. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)