Genes VII (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "THE basic nature of the gene was defined by Mendel more than a century ago..." (more)
Key Phrases: idling reaction, lysogenic repressor, periseptal annulus, Cell Biol, Tyr Thr, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

...the latest edition of a very successful textbook used in many undergraduate courses...The style of teh book is very descriptive. The Times Higher Education Supplement, Friday 25th February 2000

Genes VII, published in January 2000, is latest edition of the best selling molecular biology textbook by Benjamin Lewin. ... a significant investment for many students. ...Genes VII provides readers with a comprehensive coverage of the subject in which topics are explained in detail and at length. Paul Winter, Human Genetics (2000) 107:413

`"Genes VII, published in January 2000, is latest edition of the best selling molecular biology textbook by Benjamin Lewin. ... a significant investment for many students. ...Genes VII provides readers with a comprehensive coverage of the subject in which topics are explained in detail and at length."' Paul Winter, Human Genetics (2000) 107:413

"I...the latest edition of a very successful textbook used in many undergraduate courses...The style of teh book is very descriptive. The Times Higher Education Supplement, Friday 25th February 2000

Product Description

Oxford University Press is proud to present GENES VII--the latest edition of Benjamin Lewin's best-selling textbook. This authoritative work provides an integrated account of the structure and function of genes and incorporates all the latest research in the field.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REORGANIZATION TO DATE

The power of direct analysis of the genome has made a significant difference in the approach of GENES VII. In a departure from previous editions, which started with a traditional analysis of formal genetics, the new edition begins with the molecular properties of the gene itself. The text is now reorganized to begin with the concept of genes as a segment of DNA coding for protein, and then proceeds directly to the characterization of the genome in terms of its content of genes.

INTEGRATED APPROACH

GENES VII first explains the structure and function of the gene as a means to revealing the operation of the genome as a whole, and offers an integrated approach to prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The gene is considered from all aspects, including:

* Basic forms

* The numbers and relationships among genes in a genome

* Their packaging into chromosomes

* The process of gene expression from transcription through translation

* The reproduction and safeguarding of the gene structure

* Aspects of the overall circuitry through which genotype determines phenotype

STREAMLINED, FULL-COLOR DESIGN

GENES VII has been considerably restructured and reorganized to highlight the latest research and technology. It contains more that 800 full color illustrations that are extremely useful in teaching the key concepts presented in the book.

GENES VII CONTAINS NEW, GROUNDBREAKING INFORMATION ON:

* New technologies that count and compare expressed genes

* Accessory proteins (chaperones)

* The role of the proteasome

* Licensing

* Reverse translocation

* Connections between repair and recombination systems and human diseases

* Connections between the structure of chromosomal material and control of gene expression in eukaryotes

* The process of X chromosome inactivation

* Imprinting

* Control of gene expression by epigenetic changes

* The enzymatic activities that control chromatin structure and affect the regulatory process

* Archeael enzymes

* The mechanism of RNA editing in lower eukaryotes

* The role of RAG genes

* Interactions within and between pathways

* The use of protein degradation to control passage through the cell cycle

* Programmed cell death

* Telomerase and its role in carcinogenesis. And much more!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 990 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 7th edition (December 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019879276X
• ISBN-13: 978-0198792765
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #855,337 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thumbs down from a frustrated professor, April 15, 2002

By A Customer

Lewin's Genes series has dominated the market in Molecular Biology textbooks ... Unfortunately, its monopoly status seems to have insulated Lewin, his illustrators, and his editors from the corrective influences of a competitive market...so far.

I am in my second year of teaching from this book and I find it very frustrating. Lewin's writing style is unclear, difficult and distracting. Tangential ideas and subjects appear out of nowhere in the middle of chapters for no logical reason. As I write this, I should be preparing my lecture for Chapter 26 (Signal transduction). Why does this chapter start with a discussion of transporters? Later parts contain sentences that are almost unreadable and way too much detail about the alphabet soup of different kinases.

Although it is much better than some earlier editions, Genes VII still contains a variety of major and minor errors, including serious problems in explaining how lagging strand DNA synthesis is coordinated in the replication fork - several experts tell me that the model in figure 13.16 is simply wrong. The holoenyme does not lose one of its catalytic subunits with each cycle of Okazaki fragment synthesis. The clamp simply lets go and the clamp loader grabs the next fragment with a new clamp. I realized this semester that I had been ignoring the book and teaching what I knew from seminars.

Even when the content they describe is basically correct, figures in Genes VII can be astonishingly bad. Homologous recombination is illustrated with DNA strands that are only color coded and where the 5' and 3' ends are not labeled (Chapter 14). Unlabeled spliceosomal proteins change their color codes in the middle of the pathway - transesterification to form the lariat also seems to change U2 into U1 (Figure 22.10).

I am hoping that one of the newer competitors for Genes VII will prove to be a suitable replacement. I am examining Robert Weaver's Molecular Biology - I like what I've read so far - and should get a review copy of T.A. Brown's Genomes soon. ...Disclaimer - I have no financial interest in the success of any of these. All of them are available on Amazon.

By the way, I do have a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. I'm not an expert in all of the material covered by Genes VII, but I was trained in labs whose work is cited in Genes VII.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Genes VII - What's new, January 25, 2000

By A Customer

I was keen to see this new edition with its supposed emphasis on the characterization of eukaryotic genes. However, I am extremely disappointed with the changes. In fact, on comparing with the previous editions I have, the eukaryotic sections are little more than a rehash. The sections on genome analysis are also little more than a re-write of earlier editions: chapter 3 includes several pages on Cot Analysis - does anyone still do this? One other major concern is the lack of new material/new research -almost all the 'further reading' sections refer to papers pre-1990! Genes was once the best advanced genetics text on the market - I sadly feel that Genes VII no longer holds that position.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive New Edition, August 7, 2000

By A Customer

I must speculate that some reviewers have yet to receive their PhD or otherwise do not have a full understanding of molecular biology. Part of the genius of this new edition is that it presents the same material in a more concise fashion, without losing its specificity. The Lodish book, on the other hand, is rather clusmy both in its presentation and analysis, and is frequently confused on the intricacies of this field. For a serious student who wishes to really learn this material, this book is certainly the most logical and suitable choice.