Human Genetics: Concepts and Applications [Import] [Paperback]

Ricki Lewis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (ISE Editions); 5Rev Ed edition (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071198490
• ISBN-13: 978-0071198493
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,670,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

On a bright September Sunday in 2008, 8-year-old Corey Haas walked up the pathway to the Philadelphia zoo holding his parents' hands, looked up, and screamed. It was the first time he'd seen the sun.

Four days earlier, Corey had undergone gene therapy for hereditary blindness at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. An eye surgeon had gently placed billions of viruses bearing healing genes just beneath the rods and cones of Corey's left eye. Now, at the zoo, seeing the sun hurt.

Corey's suddenly restored vision marked a renaissance for gene therapy, a biotechnology sadly sidelined nine years earlier when an 18-year-old died in a similar experiment in the same city, also in just four days.

The Forever Fix tells the riveting saga of gene therapy: how it works, the science behind it, how young patients have been helped and harmed, and how researchers learned from each trial to inch one step closer to its immense promise, the promise of a "forever fix" - a cure that, by correcting a problem at its genetic roots, doesn't need further treatment.

Corey's inspiring true story unfolds against the backdrop of other children receiving gene therapy since the field was born in 1990, and those looking ahead to it in the coming months. The treatments pioneered on their rare diseases will reverberate to many more common illnesses. The compelling voices of the children, families, researchers, and physicians at the forefront of this biotechnology relate the ups and downs that have led to its recent success, and looming acceptance. And no one has told these intertwining stories - until now.

The Forever Fix, dedicated to the children of gene therapy, is a celebration of science, medicine, parent activism, and most important of all, hope.

RICKI LEWIS is a Ph.D. geneticist, journalist, professor and genetic counselor. The author of one of the most widely used college textbooks in the field (Human Genetics: Concepts and Applications, now in it's 10th edition), she has also written hundreds of articles for trade and specialized magazines, including Nature, Discover, and The Scientist. She is a hospice volunteer and frequent public speaker. Ricki lives near Schenectady, NY, and as much as possible in Martha's Vineyard.

Follow Ricki Lewis on Twitter (@rickilewis), on her blog Genetic Linkage (www.rickilewis.com), and at https/www.facebook.com/rickilewisauthor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A textbook you can use, September 4, 2007

By 

Lynn (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Human Genetics (Paperback)

For professors who are thinking of using this book, as a student I felt it engaged me immensely. For students who are contemplating shelling out the $$ for the book, I don't quite know what to tell you. The book is very easy to read, lots of colorful pictures, not just dry text. Each chapter starts off with a semi-personal story about the topic at hand. My teacher didn't use it that often for work but I found it helpful to support what I was learning in class. Great reference. Human Genetics is a very interesting topic and can get any lay person to talk about their views on what kind of world they want to see.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars easy to read text, February 18, 2006

By 

Jordan Cardinale "student" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Human Genetics (Paperback)

great text book for genetics course. I use it at NYU. Easy to read, great illustrations, helpful index.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The writing and organization is crap., March 20, 2011

By 

Sarah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Human Genetics (Paperback)

There are some positive aspects of this book:
-Short sections
-Lots of pictures/diagrams
-Lots of personal stores, examples, etc.

All these factors make this book pretty easy to get through. However, the quality of writing and thought organization is terrible:

-Jumps from idea to idea
-Gives examples of a disorder, but doesn't mention what that disorder is
-LOTS of sentence structure issues, including sentences that just don't make sense; Ex: "The second major type of DNA microarray experiment, a DNA sequence variation analysis, screen mutations, SNPs, and the wild type sequence for a particular gene." (This is not a sentence! Is there a word missing or something?)
-Wordiness galore: "In a Darwinian sense, an unattractive and out-of-shape parent of ten is more "fit" than a gorgeous triathlete with one child." (What does being unattractive or gorgeous have to do with it?)

There are a million more examples of the crappy writing.

Honestly, a lot of the sentences are worded awkwardly. This book should be rewritten, reorganized, and EDITED.