Description
Hallmark Features
Key Concepts and Connections Throughout the book, I’ve included features to help stu-dents focus on the major concepts of each topic.
Concept boxes throughout each chapter summarize the key points of preceding sections. Concept Checks ask students to pause for a moment and make sure that they understand the take-home message.
Concept Checks are in multiple-choice and short-answer format, and answers are listed at the end of each chapter. Connecting Concepts sections draw on concepts presented in several sections or several chapters to help students see how different topics of genetics relate to one another. These sections compare and contrast processes or integrate ideas across chapters to create an overarching, big picture of genetics. All major concepts are listed in the Concepts Summary at the end of each chapter.
Accessibility The welcoming and conversational writing style of this book has long been one of its most successful features for both students and instructors. In addition to carefully walk-ing students through each major concept of genetics, I invite them into the topic with an introductory story. These stories include relevant examples of disease or other biological phenomena to give students a sample of what they’ll be learning in a chapter. More than a third of the introductory stories in this edition are new.
Clear, Simple Illustration Program I have worked closely with illustrators to create attrac-tive and instructive illustrations, which have proved to be an effective learning tool for stu-dents. Each illlustration was carefully rendered to highlight main points and to step the reader through experiments and processes. Most illustrations include textual content that walks stu-dents through the graphical presentation. Illustrations of experiments reinforce the scientific method by first proposing a hypothesis, then pointing out the methods and results, and end-ing with a conclusion that reinforces concepts explained in the text.
Emphasis on Problem Solving One of the things that I’ve learned in my 30 years of teaching is that students learn genetics best through problem solving. Working through an example, equation, or experiment helps students see con-cepts in action and reinforces the ideas explained in the text. In the book, I help students develop problem-solving skills in a number of ways. Worked Prob-lems follow the presentation of difficult quantitative concepts. Walking through a problem and solution within the text reinforces what the student has just read. New Problem Links spread throughout each chapter point to end-of-chapter problems that students can work to test their understanding of the material that they have just read. I provide a wide range of end-of-chapter problems, organized by chapter section and split into Comprehension, Applica-tion Questions and Problems, and Challenge Questions. Some of these ques-tions draw on examples from published papers and are marked by a data analysis icon.
Contents in Brief
1 Introduction to Genetics 1
2 Chromosomes and Cellular Reproduction 15
3 Basic Principles of Heredity 43
4 Sex Determination and Sex-Linked Characteristics 73
5 Extensions and Modifications of Basic Principles 99
6 Pedigree Analysis, Applications, and Genetic Testing 135
7 Linkage, Recombination, and Eukaryotic Gene Mapping 161
8 Bacterial and Viral Genetic Systems 203
9 Chromosome Variation 239
10 DNA: The Chemical Nature of the Gene 271
11 Chromosome Structure and Transposable Elements 291
12 DNA Replication and Recombination 321
13 Transcription 351
14 RNA Molecules and RNA Processing 375
15 The Genetic Code and Translation 401
16 Control of Gene Expression in Prokaryotes 431
17 Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes 459
18 Gene Mutations and DNA Repair 481
19 Molecular Genetic Analysis and Biotechnology 513
20 Genomics and Proteomics 557
21 Organelle DNA 591
22 Developmental Genetics and Immunogenetics 611
23 Cancer Genetics 637
24 Quantitative Genetics 659
25 Population Genetics 693
26 Evolutionary Genetics 721
Reference Guide to Model Genetic Organisms A1