This book is a ‘must have’ for experienced plant breeders, molecular geneticists and biology students. Its 15 chapters start with a comprehensive introduction covering the scope of the book, providing a useful resource as a brief history and description of the major concepts in molecular breeding. Chapter 2 provides a complete description of genetic markers and then covers a description of genetic linkage mapping. In Chapter 3 the ‘omics’ tools for assessing genetic variation are described and applications discussed. Populations in genetics and breeding are discussed in Chapter 4 with double haploids, recombinant inbred lines and near-isogenic lines thoroughly discussed, though out-breeding populations are not covered. Plant genetic resources are discussed in Chapter 5 from management and evaluation through to use with some discussion on future prospects for germplasm utilization. Chapter 6 provides a comprehensive theory behind the molecular dissection of complex traits, presenting in a step-by-step approach the statistical basis for QTL mapping, which is followed up in Chapter 7 with this theory put into practice. Chapters 8 and 9 then present the theory and practice for marker-assisted-selection. Ways of assessing genotype-by-environment interactions are discussed in Chapter 10. Chapter 11 describes the isolation and characterization of genes and linkage with phenotypes. Genetic modification protocols through to commercialization are addressed in Chapter 12. Intellectual property and plant variety protection is the subject of Chapter 13. The two final chapters cover bioinformatics and decision support tools which summarize the other chapters in practice.