Book excerpt: The Plasma Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetic Control is a systematic account of the structure, function, and genetic control of plasma proteins. Advances in the characterization and posttranslational modification of plasma proteins are discussed, along with the structure of a variety of plasma proteins such as serum albumin, glycoproteins, and serum lipoproteins, and immunoglobulins. Comprised of six chapters, this volume begins with a review of progress in plasma proteins, focusing on their three-dimensional structure, characterization, and microheterogeneity as well as genetic polymorphism and chromosomal mapping. The second chapter gives a comprehensive summary of the structure of nearly 100 proteins, from serum albumin and glycoproteins to serum lipoproteins, thyroxine-binding proteins, and immunoglobulins. The reader is then introduced to human plasma proteins of unknown function, together with high-resolution two-dimensional electrophoretic mapping. The remaining chapters explore developments in the structural study of carbon hydrates; synthesis, structure, and function of the oligosaccharides of plasma glycoproteins; and the evolution of the vertebrate plasma proteins. This monograph will be of interest to molecular biologists and biochemists.