Book excerpt: The study of the structure and function of tetrapyrrolic compounds has excited the interests of organic chemists, biochemists, botanists and biologists for more than a hundred years. Scientific analysis began with the first descriptions of naturally occurring porphyrins, and progress was made towards understanding the structure of chlorophyll. This was followed by the use of newly available isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to investigate the formation of porphyrins in biological systems. Further discoveries led to the elucidation of the atoms in protoporphyrin IX, made possible by the application of physical methods, such as NMR spectroscopy and recombinant DNA technology. The present volume discusses many more exciting and unexpected developments which have been made in the field over the last ten to fifteen years. While not all questions have yet been answered, the forum is set for a great scope of further research in the study of tetrapyrroles.• Of interest to biochemists, organic chemists and plant scientists• The book focusses on the exciting and unexpected developments in the field of tetrapyrolles over the last ten years• It paves the way for future research in this area