Modern Genetic Analysis & Student CD-ROM: Integrating Genes and Genomes [Hardcover]

Anthony J.F. Griffiths (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0716747146 | ISBN-13: 978-0716747147 | Publication Date: March 15, 2002 | Edition: 2nd

Modern Genetic Analysis - with CD-ROM 2nd edition, the second introductory genetics textbook W.H. Freeman has published by the Griffiths author team, implements an innovative approach to teaching genetics. Rather than presenting material in historical order, the text integrates molecular genetics with classical genetics. The integrated approach provides students with a concrete foundation in molecules, while simultaneously building an understanding of the more abstract elements of transmission genetics. The book also incorporates greater attention to pedagogy, improved chapter organization, enhanced art, and a better overall design, making it a more effective learning tool.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 736 pages
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman; 2nd edition (March 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716747146
• ISBN-13: 978-0716747147
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible job, November 17, 2002

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Dr. Lee D. Carlson (Baltimore, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Modern Genetic Analysis: Integrating Genes and Genomes (Hardcover)

In the last few years several very good textbooks and monographs in genetics have appeared, due mainly to the success of various genome projects and also to the rise of bioinformatics as a new discipline in biology, computer science, and mathematics. Most of these textbooks have appeared in many prior editions, and comparing these older editions with the newest ones, one can indeed see a remarkable difference in enthusiasm in the authors. They are clearly very excited about the developments in molecular biology and genetics that have taken place and the confidence among biologists that the fundamental understanding of life is finally within reach. Readers can share their excitement by the study of these books, and doing so one cannot help but be marveled by the incredible ingenuity of the scientific methods used to unravel the processes of life.

Of all these excellent books, I find this one to be the best, and my judgment of the book's quality is from the standpoint of someone who is very involved in the algorithms behind bioinformatics and mathematical biology and is attempting to gain, as quickly as possible, the necessary background in genetics. My review therefore will be primarily addressed to those mathematicians or even physicists who plan on moving into bioinformatics.

To relative newcomers to genetics such as myself, the learning of molecular biology and genetics can involve a huge amount of memory work. To the more mathematically-inclined reader, the memorization of facts can be most unpalatable. The learning of the material in this book will also involve such extreme exercises in memory, but there are a few strategies that the authors employ that, even though they were directed at a general readership, actually serve to make the learning much easier for the mathematician or mathematical biologist. These are the use of concept maps and the assigning of "challenging problems" at the end of most chapters in the book. These serve effectively to make the reader think through and interconnect the many concepts, which for the mathematician who is used to the economy of thought that mathematics brings, is an absolute necessity for the learning experience. Also, the authors are well aware of the need for students to learn how to analyze data and interact with online databases, so a lot of the material in the book is written to address this need.

Even from merely an aesthetic point of view the book is exceptional, as the soft colors used in the illustrations are very beautiful, and actually serve to make the learning of the material very pleasureful. And in addition, the reader can access the book's Website and follow the many animations that were put together for the book. And here again, the playing of these animations increase the speed in which one can learn the subject.

The authors also ask the readers to consider the impact that biotechnology and genetic engineering will have in the upcoming decades. One of the most dramatic, and I think the most important paragraphs in the book is the one in which the authors state that "the public cannot relay on reports published in the general media for the kind of critical evaluation needed to make informed personal and political decisions. Nor can it be left to experts, who have their own biases and agendas. There is no substitute for acquiring the kind of basic knowledge of genetics that is essential to all informed decisions." Their goal is provide the background that will allow the reader to differentiate between bad and good claims about genetics, and to think critically about both the negative and positive aspects of genetic research and genetic engineering.

I believe the use of genetic engineering and biotechnology in all biological systems, both human and non-human, holds the best hope for the future of life on earth. This book has given an excellent introduction to the biology and genetics behind these technologies. The excitement and optimism expressed in the book will no doubt encourage many individuals to further their studies in genetics and enter the new biological professions of the 21st century.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner for Anthony Griffiths., March 22, 2003

By 

mephistopholes- - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Genetic Analysis: Integrating Genes and Genomes (Hardcover)

Anthony Griffiths is the principle author of both 'An Introduction to Genetic Analysis' and 'Modern Genetic Analysis.' The former book is in its sixth edition, while the later is in it's second. I highly recommend both textbooks as the best teaching texts I have ever come across. Personally however, I prefer using 'Modern Genetic Analysis' because it is easier to understand, and less frustrating and confusing for students. The 'Introduction to Genetic Analysis' textbook is larger, more annotated, and has more difficult problems. The 'Modern Genetic Analysis' textbook provides a better basic framework on which to build an understanding of genetics, without going into too many unnecessary details that (in my opinion) only confuse students new to the subject.

The second edition of 'Modern Genetic Analysis' is very similar to the first edition, and only about ten percent of the material (at most) has been changed. Most of the problem sets are the same, but have been renumbered. This is actually a teaching advantage because it gives students the option of buying used copies of the first edition rather than new copies of the second.

One major improvement in the second edition, however, is the addition of internet-based genetics tutorials. Students are directed to the various public genome databases on the internet, used by real researchers, and are given practice assignments to do. They are shown how to conduct gene and protein homology searches, how to find open reading frames, and how to access other forms of information from the various public domain databases on the internet. Since internet databases have now become one of the most important tools available to geneticists these tutorials are a welcome addition to this textbook. I highly recommend it.

Greg Doheny (Vancouver, Canada)

5.0 out of 5 stars DNA first, peas later, April 10, 2011

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mcewin "mac" (St. John's, NL, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Genetic Analysis: Integrating Genes and Genomes (Hardcover)

Tony Griffiths has headed ten editions of his "Introduction to Genetic Analysis", which takes a classical 'peas first, DNA later' approach. The pedagogical justification has been that genetics is preeminently a problem-solving science, and that by developing ideas in their historical order, you provide an opportunity to learn the subject in the same way as it was developed.

The difficulty is that this works well up through the cracking of the genetic code in the mid-1960s. Thereafter, genetics and molecular biology proliferate in so many directions that it is no longer possible to provide a linear historical narrative. Worse (or better) yet, the biotechnology and genomics revolutions of the last ten years have opened so many interesting doors that there is simply no time in an introductory course

My course currently begins, "As you all know, DNA is a double-stranded helical molecule that replicates semi-conservatively," a standing broad jump over Watson & Crick, Hershey & Chase, Meselson & Stahl, et al.

MGA is intended to reverse the classic order, to begin with a detailed discussion of the structure and function of DNA, RNA, and protein in producing phenotypes. The molecular phenomena can then be used to explain *why* some gene variants can be called 'recessive' or 'dominant', and how this results in 3:1 ratios. By not presenting mendelian concepts as primary, it is possible to deliver a much more effective teaching approach as to How Gene Work. Problem solving with rough guinea pigs and pink flowers can be supplemented with inferences from bands on gels and ASO spot patterns. I used both editions, up till last year, and had good results.

SADLY, WH Freeman has decided there is no market for this approach, and has no plans to update this 2002 edition. It is now badly outdated with respect to modern genomics. Your choices are to go back to the 10th edition of Griffiths "Introduction," rearranging the chapter material to support the new approach, or use one of the small number of genetics (as opposed to molecular biology) texts that develop the new method. I now use Peter Russell's "iGenetics, a molecular approach"