This special symposium volume of the SSHB explores the biological effects of human isolation and migration, and how the situations to which they give rise help to elucidate a variety of biological problems, ranging from evolutionary change to disease etiology. The majority of the case studies presented here are by Asian investigators, and provide a uniquely accessible source of information. Besides documenting the results, the book illustrates the different methods employed in such studies. It will be invaluable to those contemplating similar investigations elsewhere, and will be of interest to researchers in a range of disciplines including epidemiology, clinical medicine, demography, anthropology, genetics and evolutionary biology.