The use of tetracyclines as medicinal antibiotic agents dates to the late 1940s, and thousands of such compounds have been synthesized, many of which are still in widespread use today. Whereas many older antibiotics have fallen by the wayside, new biologic and medicinal usages for tetracyclines continue to be developed. This book provides an up-to-date account of the non-antimicrobial properties of tetracyclines, covering - general properties of tetracyclines, their chemistry, biology, and microbiologic action - the tetracycline gene regulation system which is now widely used for the study of gene activity - use of tetracyclines as non-antimicrobial medicinal agents in human diseases It is of interest to medicinal chemists, bacteriologists, microbiologists, infectious disease specialists, molecular biologists, geneticists, experimental pathologists, physicians and scientists in a wide number of disciplines including cancer, dentistry, rheumatology, vascular disease and ophthalmology.