genetics books

	Mathematical and Statistical Methods for Genetic Analysis
	By: Kenneth Lange ISBN: 0387953892 Publisher: Springer Release Date: 03 June, 2003 Bioscience book rank: 561050	This second edition updates the first with the many advances in the rapidly growing field of genetics. It provides a nice treatment of the mathematical and stochastic models that are useful in genetic studies. <br />It is a little disappointing that it does not go into the microarray technology that has become so important for experimentation in the last few years. Other recent books that cover statistical aspects of genetic research are Weir (1996) "Genetic Data Analysis II" Sinauer Associates (publisher) and Yang (2000) "Introduction to Statistical Methods in Modern Genetics" Gordon and Breach Science Publishers. <br /> <br /> This book is not for the novice dabbling in statistical genetics. This is a highly sophisticated, thought provoking book targeted to individuals with considerable mathematical ability and training. As such, this book is an invaluable tool for individuals hoping to make a real impact in the field of statistical genetics. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods for pedigree data. I'm interested in molecular genetics, this seems to be more about population genetics. There is some material, towards the back, about phylogeny. I can bash that a bit to make it match my needs, but it's still a bit of a stretch.<p>It seems to be a pretty good presentation of population genetics, the kind of genetics taught in high schools in the 70s. I can't comment on this book's merits, but I can warn the biochem types to spend their money elsewhere.
	Genetics and Public Health in the 21st Century: Using Genetic Information to Improve Health and Prevent Disease
	By: Muin J. Khoury, Wylie Burke, Elizabeth J. Thomson ISBN: 0195128303 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Release Date: 15 August, 2000 Bioscience book rank: 499654
	Horse Genetics
	By: Ann T. Bowling ISBN: 0851991017 Publisher: CABI Release Date: 11 July, 1996 Bioscience book rank: 426608	This was probably a good book when first printed, but that 7 years ago and a lot of the information is no longer valid. Not a good reference, because although a lot is changed, none of it is reliable anymore due to age of info. Easy to understand, comprehensive view of color genetics in horses. Does not have much outside color genetics, and very few pictures, but very thorough and in-depth, yet comprehendable reading of color genetics from a top authority. Yes! This book tells it all. Mind you, it is not simple to read. If you do not have a genetic/biologic background, it may at times be impossible to understand. Not many illustrations, and black and white only. But for the person who does have at least somewhat understanding of genetics it is a MUST HAVE!<br>Unfortunally here and there a little out-dated (homozygous testing for Tobiano and OLWS testing at the time not yet available).
	Biochemistry and Genetics: PreTest Self-Assessment and Review (Pre-Test Basic Science Series)
	By: Cheryl Ingram-Smith, Kerry Smith ISBN: 0071437479 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Medical Release Date: 03 August, 2004 Bioscience book rank: 257540	This book is extremely useful in preparing for the medical genetics, genetic counseling, cytogenetics/molecular board exams. However, be aware that some o fthe inheritance mechanisms/risk calculations are incorrect since they require Bayes which is not covered in the book. Overall, the other sections do provide good review questions. I used this book while studying for the GRE in Biochemistry. The questions are detailed and hard. If you are a wimp who slept in class - this book will kick you. You will feel really low... For preparing for the GRE or the USMLE with their new explanded biochemistry format which is getting heavier into genetics and biochemistry this book will be the new Q-bank you will have to have. My only issue is I was use to using Lange, Appleton & Lange, and Kaplan q-bank books where you get 50 questions set of questions most of the time. This book has a bit different format by subject. So a 50 question timed set may force you to jump around. I am still working the book for the USMLE.
	USMLE Road Map: Genetics (USMLE Road Map)
	By: George Sack ISBN: 0071498206 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Medical Release Date: 22 February, 2008 Bioscience book rank: 239688
	The Miracle Strain: A Genetic Thriller
	By: Michael Cordy ISBN: 0688155081 Publisher: William Morrow & Co Release Date: September, 1997 Bioscience book rank: 551745	I read Michael Cordys Messiah Code and loved it. Thought I'd read some more of his books. I bought The Miracle Strain , without reading the review and find that it is The Messiah Code with a different name. Shame on you, its a great book and didn't need to follow the "Code"coattails. I just finished the book... and I feel exhausted because it was such an exciting book. I read books only when I feel lured into the story from the first chapter. I just couldn't put the book down. This debut novel for Cordy is great. It poses a very interesting question: what would we find in the genes of Christ? A great science fiction thriller with a religious twist. I am a devout Christian and I loved this book. You should read it. I heard it's being made into a movie. It would do very well as a movie and be a relief from most junk movies of present. Everybody should read this!
	Foundations of Genetic Programming
	By: William B. Langdon, Riccardo Poli ISBN: 3540424512 Publisher: Springer Release Date: 22 March, 2002 Bioscience book rank: 296063	This book can be usefully read along with a companion text by the same publisher - "Introduction to Evolutionary Computing". Langdon and Poli provide a focused look, on the specifics of genetic programming. The maths treatment here is significantly more involved than the other book. <br /> <br />Foundations starts with what I suppose in this field is an obligatory section on the concept of a fitness landscape. A very useful metaphor of what you'll be attempting to do, as a researcher. However, the authors carefully point out the limitations of this idea. Notably that some spaces might have no natural metric. <br /> <br />The book then rapidly goes into the ideas of GP schemas and hyperschemas. Accompanied by a nice theoretical analysis of key performance goals like the rate of convergence in the GP search space. A solid offering to the GP researcher. This book was published in 2002 to provide a survey of the direction research had taken in the field of Genetic Programming. There is an explanation of what genetic programming is and how it is different from genetic algorithms in chapter 1(GP is a "generalization" of GA). Chapter 2 discusses the problems with the fitness landscape. Chapter 3 - 6 discusses various schema theory approaches and proofs. Chapter 6 has a great explanation of effective fitness.<p>There are numerous theorems and proofs in the book. There are informative examples of the max problem and the artificial ant (Santa Fe Trail) problems. Chapter 11 is about how GP convergences are a tricky matter and how subtrees can hide interesting incidences of convergence.<p>This is not an introductory text, it is intended for graduate level or higher readers. There is much theoretical work here and a limited background in this area will result in limited understanding of the material. Currently working as an undergraduate student in Ann Arbor, Michigan as a Computer Science major I'm an intrigued by Genetic Programming alongside all motives of this in-depth field. I found this book to be a modest account of what is new and theoretical within this field. Expressing advanced features with a short introduction; this book is profoundly for somebody with somewhat of a background. A recommended start in the computer evolutionary field is:<br>An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms [1996], by Melanie Mitchell.
	A Guide to Genetic Counseling
	By: Diane L. Baker, Jane L. Schuette, Wendy R. Uhlmann ISBN: 0471188670 Publisher: Wiley-Liss Release Date: 05 November, 1998 Bioscience book rank: 315379
	Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives) (rough edge)
	By: Matt Ridley ISBN: B000MG1Z8I Publisher: Eminent Lives Release Date: 13 June, 2006 Bioscience book rank: 517923	While the author got Crick's name right, he dropped the ball on the rest of the title. Crick did not discover the genetic code. Marshall Nirenberg did. Crick and Watson figured out the structure of the DNA molecule. There is a difference between elucidating the structure of DNA and working out the code embodied in that structure. Hopefully the author makes the distinction in the text. I have not read the book. This is just a review of the title, which gets a "2", on the strength of spelling Crick's name right. I was heartened to read in this book that Francis Crick steadfastly refused to accept honorary degrees and other such dubious signs of distinction that academics like to bestow on one another. Of course Crick received the Nobel prize, so it was easy for him to snub his nose at the honor-grubbing of his lesser colleagues. Still, his behavior in this area is exemplary, and reassuring. <br /> <br />While I got this glimpse of Crick's personality, I did not learn as much as I had hoped about DNA. That is due to my faulty background in science at least as much as to any fault in Ridley's prose. But Ridley did inspire me to get back to Watson's "Double Helix," and eventually, I hope, I will arrive at more of an insight into the intellectual revolution that was brought about by Crick and Watson. <br /> <br />As others have noted, the book - so full of names and places - cries out for photographs. There are none. And it cries out for an index, of which there is none. Please, Atlas Books, relax your purse strings a bit and provide such things for the second edition. +++++ <br /> <br />This book, by professor and author Matt Ridley, succinctly tells the life story of Dr. Francis Crick (1916 to 2004), perhaps best known for discovering, along with Dr. James Watson, the structure of DNA. (Ridley tells us that "I first met Francis Crick through my wife [a professor], who worked with him in 1985.") <br /> <br />Roughly, this book can be divided into five parts: <br /> <br />(1) Crick's early years <br />(2) His discovery, along with Watson, of the double helical structure of DNA <br />(3) Crick's discovery of the genetic code ("as great an achievement as the double helix") <br />(4) His interesting life after the double helix and the genetic code <br />(5) Crick's work in neuroscience and human consciousness <br /> <br />Besides Ridley's generally easy to read narrative, there are also included actual parts of letters and quotations by Crick and other influential others of that time. Ridley did not only rely only on other written sources to create his interesting and illuminating main narrative but also relied on interviews with Crick's second wife and his grown children. <br /> <br />As I was reading this book, I came across surprisingly many things I did not know. (I say surprisingly because I have read quite a bit on the discovery of DNA's structure but admit that I knew very little about Francis Crick the man.) As I was reading this book, I got the impression that Crick was quite a remarkable person. This impression lasted until I read the last few pages of chapter ten. <br /> <br />Ridley could have not written these last few pages and only written that Crick was extraordinary in every way. But he chose not too instead giving us details of some of Crick's bizarre beliefs. (Some of these beliefs may get some readers upset.) <br /> <br />Finally, I had only one major problem with this book--it lacks illustrations. There is a photograph on the book's cover (displayed above by Amazon), a frontispiece famous photograph, a line diagram, and a chart or table. That's it!! I understand that Ridley was trying to keep his book brief but a few more illustrations especially when he started talking about DNA, transfer RNA, messenger RNA, etc. would have been helpful as well as instructive. <br /> <br />A minor problem is that this book has no index. True the book is brief but this is deceiving since Ridley packs a lot into each page. Thus, while an index is not absolutely needed, it would have been helpful. <br /> <br />In conclusion, this is an amazing book that presents the fascinating biography of the twentieth century's most important biologist!!! <br /> <br />(first published 2006; prologue; 13 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 210 pages; sources and acknowledgements) <br /> <br />+++++ <br />
	Conservation of Wildlife Populations: Demography, Genetics and Management
	By: L. Scott Mills ISBN: 1405121467 Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Release Date: 22 December, 2006 Bioscience book rank: 433404	As a practicing wildlife biologist for 40 years, I found this new text to be an excellent review of the key elements of population biology that are pertinent to wildlife management and conservation. Mills cogently discusses numerous new issues in population biology that have developed since I completed my academic studies (such as climate change) and updates long-known issues (like predator-prey relationships) with new studies and thinking. The boxes describing real-world examples of the issues described in the text are very helpful. This books fills a needed gap between traditionally-oriented texts and practical applications. It would be an excellent text for intermediate-level wildlife biology or conservation biology courses and would be an important addition to the shelves of any biologist working to resolve conservation problems in the real world where wildlife and people interact. <br />Sterling Miller Ph.D. <br />Senior Wildlife Biologist <br />National Wildlife Fedration (Missoula) <br />& <br />Research Biologist (Retired) <br />Alaska Department of Fish and Game