Welcome to the Genome: A User's Guide to the Genetic Past, Present, and Future

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 240 pages
• Published by: Wiley
• Edition: 1st Edition September 28, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0471453315
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0471453314
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 1.3 pounds

Reader Reviews
If you need a quick overview to the current state of the art of genetic science and its applications, you'll find this book to be a useful text. I appreciated the succinct style and depth of presentation. However, as one who follows the news on the ethics of genetic testing, I was annoyed by the authors' obvious bias towards the multicultural viewpoint. They champion the view that there is no genetic basis for race, baldly stating on page 131 that "commonly used ethnic and racial categories do not accurately reflect human genetic variation." The endnote to support this claim is a reference to a 1997 study. Being a 2005 publication, the authors had both the opportunity and the duty to cite more recent, conflicting studies that support the opposing view, namely that genetic variations fall closely into traditional groupings of race. For example, see the February 2004 American Journal of Human Genetics article by Neil Risch of the Stanford University School of Medicine. My point is that neither view is definitively supported at this stage of understanding of the genome, yet the authors present the issue as a settled question. Other, similarly-slanted statements throughout the book stain the authors otherwise readable presentation of the science and the ethical questions to which it gives rise. Comment | | (Report this)