Genetics A Beginner's Guide

With genetics and genetic engineering receiving almost daily coverage in theedia, this book is an introduction for general readers who wish to know morebout a science that is changing our world. Starting with the history ofenetics, from primitive breeding programmes to Mendel's Law, and moving ono a full explanation of genetics and its role in our future, this is aomprehensive survey of genetics past, present and future.

Burton Guttman is a Professor of Biology at The Evergreen State College, Washington, USA.

Preface	p. ix
Genetics: past, present, and future	p. 1
The search for order and meaning	p. 3
The modern image of science	p. 5
The prospects of modern genetics	p. 10
From myth to modern science	p. 13
Primitive interest in heredity	p. 15
Mythology and the domestication of plants and animals	p. 16
Heredity in human society	p. 20
How are children made?	p. 23
What is inherited?	p. 29
Cellular structure	p. 30
Molecular structure	p. 34
Growth and biosynthesis	p. 41
Enzymes	p. 43
Synthesizing polymers	p. 46
Cells as self-renewing, self-reproducing factories	p. 48
The breakthrough: mendel's laws	p. 49
Mendel's discoveries	p. 50
Pedigrees	p. 53
Another example: tasters and non-tasters	p. 58
Blood types	p. 60
Multiple alleles and dominance	p. 63
Test crosses	p. 64
Probability	p. 64
Two or more genes	p. 66
Mendel's first law and disputed paternity	p. 68
Answers to blood types questions	p. 70
Chromosomes, reproduction, and sex	p. 71
Cells and reproduction	p. 71
Mitosis and the cell cycle	p. 73
Karyotypes	p. 75
Meiosis	p. 76
Meiosis explains Mendel	p. 82
The location of genes	p. 83
Sex chromosomes	p. 83
Nondisjunction of chromosomes	p. 85
XYY males: a genetic dilemma	p. 88
The function of genes	p. 93
Genes and metabolic disease	p. 93
Genes and enzymes	p. 94
Proteins and information	p. 97
Modification of hereditary disease	p. 101
The hereditary material, dna	p. 108
Bacteria	p. 109
The first clue	p. 111
Bacteriophages	p. 114
The Hershey--Chase experiment	p. 116
DNA structure	p. 118
Genetic implications	p. 122
Testing DNA structure	p. 124
The genetic dissection of gene structure	p. 127
Gene arrangement	p. 127
Crossing over within genes	p. 132
Phage genetics	p. 134
Fine structure of genes	p. 134
Complementation and the definition of a gene	p. 135
What is a gene?	p. 137
Restriction enzymes and palindromes	p. 139
Restriction mapping	p. 142
Deciphering the code of life	p. 146
How are proteins made?	p. 148
RNA molecules: the tools for protein synthesis	p. 150
RNA transcription	p. 152
The translation process	p. 154
The complexity of eucaryotic genes	p. 156
Cracking the code	p. 159
Colinearity of genes and proteins	p. 160
Stop codons	p. 162
Universality of the code	p. 163
Heredity in the bacterial world	p. 164
Mutant bacteria	p. 164
Sex in E. coli	p. 165
Plasmids	p. 168
Resistance factors and antibiotic resistance	p. 168
Lysogeny	p. 173
Gene transfer by virus	p. 174
Transduction in humans	p. 175
Gene regulation and development	p. 179
Bacterial gene regulation	p. 180
Regulating eucaryotic genes	p. 184
Embryonic development in general	p. 185
Regulation by time in a chick's wing	p. 188
Determination by position in a fly's body	p. 189
Forming a fly's eye	p. 191
Dna manipulation: the return of epimetheus?	p. 194
Recombinant DNA and restriction enzymes	p. 195
Studies of individual cloned fragments	p. 197
Transgenic organisms	p. 200
Human gene therapy	p. 203
Genomics, the study of complete genomes	p. 205
The geneticist as dr. frankenstein	p. 209
The regulation of recombinant-DNA research	p. 209
Genetically modified organisms	p. 213
Technology in context	p. 215
The arguments against producing GMOs	p. 217
Cloning as an ethical target	p. 224
The responsibility of scientists	p. 226
The fountain of change: mutation	p. 229
Mutation rates	p. 230
Mutation in humans	p. 231
Radiation	p. 232
What are mutations like?	p. 235
DNA repair systems	p. 238
General effects of radiation	p. 239
Chromosome aberrations	p. 242
Looking at human chromosomes	p. 244
Aneuploidy	p. 245
Duplications and deficiencies	p. 246
Inversions	p. 248
Translocations	p. 249
Evolutionary genetics	p. 251
Evidence for evolution	p. 253
Evolution as a process	p. 255
Population genetics	p. 257
Human evolution	p. 260
The migration and diversification of Homo sapiens	p. 261
Eugenics	p. 264
Glossary	p. 268
Notes	p. 288
Further reading	p. 292
Index	p. 294
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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