Laboratory experts present cutting-edge molecular biology techniques for studying the mycobacteria, a medically significant group of organisms responsible for both human and animal disease, including tuberculosis and leprosy. The methods range from basic culture techniques, cell fractionation, and nucleic acid purification to more advanced protocols for the introduction of cloned DNA into mycobacteria, the use of reporter genes, and the expression of foreign genes. There are also important techniques for mycobacteriophages, genome analysis, chemical and transposon mutagenesis, gene replacement, and analysis of gene expression, as well as such clinically useful techniques as antibiotic susceptibility testing, speciation, and RFLP analysis.