Genes, genomes, and sequences on one side, algorithms, computers, and computer science on the other - they are fascinating but keep many interested individuals at a respectful distance. The interface of these fields is covered by the modern term bioinformatics. Indeed, the synthesis of these two independent disciplines has rarely yielded so many intriguing new insights. An exciting sub-discipline of bioinformatics is molecular phylogenetics, which aims to reconstruct phylogenetic trees from molecular data: computers, modern molecular biology, and cladistics have given a somewhat outdated biological systematics and taxonomy an unexpected renaissance. Entering both worlds simultaneously - molecular biology and phylogenetics - was not necessarily easy. In this context, "Genes and Phylogenies" filled a gap in 2006. The second edition retains the tried and tested elements.