Methods in Protein Sequence Analysis -1986 brings together reports of the most recent methodology available to protein chemists for studying the molecular detail of proteins. The papers in this volume constitute the proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Methods in Protein Sequence Analysis, which was held at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington on August 17-21, 1986. This series of conferences has taken place during a period when new techniques in protein chemistry and molecular biology have enabled not only exploration of the control of protein function, but also deduction of the genetic origin of proteins, and labo ratory generation of rare protein molecules for therapeu tic and commercial use. The current reports are focused on the means by which experimental questions can be answered rather than on the biological implications in specific systems. The scope of the meeting was quite broad, empha sizing microanalytical techniques and the relative merits of DNA sequencing, mass spectrometry and more tradi tional degradation techniques. A highlight of the meeting was the Qrowing awareness of the role of mass spec trometry In the analysis of proteins. The complementarity of protein sequencing and DNA sequencing techniques was apparent throughout the discussions and several papers dealt with the strategy of obtaining sequence in formation from small amounts of protein in order that ap propriate oligonucleotide probes could be constructed and the encoding nucleic acids se. quenced and manipu lated.