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BASIC GENETICS
Radio Program | General
Resources | Human Genome Project
| Laboratory Methods & Activities | Genetic
Data
If you don't know DNA from dodo birds, or if you just need to brush up
on your molecular biology, start with General Resources.
You'll find everything from an illustrated genetics primer to online dictionaries
and glossaries.
Scientists announced completing the first draft of the human genome consensus
sequence in February 2001. Learn more about this announcement and human
genome research from resources listed under Human Genome
Project.
From resources listed under Laboratory Methods, you
can learn how scientists go about reading information from tiny, invisible
bits of DNA. And if, for whatever reason, you're interested in looking
at the human source code itself - strings of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs that scientists
have collected so far. Try the Genetic Data links
below.
Last updated: February 19, 2005
General Resources
Online
- Dolan DNA Learning
Center. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
The Dolan DNA Learning Center is "the world's first science center
devoted entirely to public genetics education." Their highly graphical
website includes many interesting educational features, including "DNA
from the Beginning" and a "Biology
Animation Library."
-
 Genomics and Its Impact on Science and Society: The Human Genome Project and Beyond. Denise Casey, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2003
This primer, updated several times from the original 1992 version, is great place to start. It begins with a primer on DNA and gives broad overviews of genetic technologies, ethical issues, medical genetics, the Human Genome Project and more. Includes a good dictionary of genetic terms.
- A
Genetics Glossary. The University of Edinburgh School of Biology,
Biology Teaching Organisation
The connection to Scotland is usually slow but this exhaustive, crosslinked
glossary of genetics terms is worth the wait.
- The
Genetic Code. Shaun D. Black, University of Texas Health Center
at Tyler
A handy table tells you the three-letter DNA codes that translate into
different amino acids, the protein building blocks that make up most
of the functional molecules in the body.
- Genome News Network
Whether your question is basic ("What is a gene?") or not ("What are the issues involved in creating a genetic registry to study disease in African Americans?"), this is a great place to look for answers. Published by the J. Craig Venter Institute, the online magazine has up-to-date and in-depth articles on genome sequencing, medical research, ethical debates, and much more. It also provides good primers on topics like the stem cell controversy, and even offers a genetics art gallery.
- Nature Genetics
Online. Nature Genetics
The online version of a journal devoted to the latest discoveries in
genetics. Read the sections called "News and views" and "Press
releases" for the less-technical reports.
- GeneLetter. GeneSage, Inc.
This now-defunct newsletter is still valuable for its reports and commentary on advances in human genetics, especially as they affect individuals and society.
Books
- Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th Edition by Bruce
Alberts, Dennis Bray, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts and James
D. Watson. Garland Science, New York, 2002
A leading university-level textbook introducing cell biology. This text
covers significant topics in genetics, including gene regulation, control
of cell division, developmental biology and recombinant DNA techniques.
A more recent text by the same authors, entitled, "Essential Cell
Biology: An Introduction to the Molecular Biology of the Cell,"
is targeted at students with less background in biology.
- What it Means to be
98% Chimpanzee: Apes, People, and Their Genes by Jonathan Marks.
California, 2002
Molecular Anthropologist Jonathan Marks gives a witty powerful critique
of genetic reductionism.
- Genomics: The Science and Technology Behind the Human Genome
Project by Charles R. Cantor, Cassandra L. Smith, and the Human
Genome Project Consortium. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1999
An overview of the theoretical and practical methods behind the Human
Genome Project.
- Essential Medical Genetics, 5th Edition by Michael
Connor and Malcolm Ferguson-Smith. Blackwell Scientific Publications,
Oxford, 1997
A university-level textbook which focuses on the roles genes play in
human disease.
- Emery and Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics,
4th Edition. Churchill Livingstone, New York, 2002
The key text in medical genetics.
- Developmental Biology, 6th Edition by Scott F. Gilbert.
Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, 2000
This university-level text covers the basics in developmental biology,
including the roles of genes.
- A Cartoon Guide to Genetics by Larry Gonick and Mark
Wheelis. Harper Perennial Library, 1991
You don't have to know much science to understand basic genetics with
this breezy comic book.
- Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future by
Gregory Stock. Houghton Mifflin, 2002
Gregory Stock, director of the UCLA School of Medicine's Program on
Medicine, Technology and Society puts a positive spin on the possibilities
of genetic engineering on human health and happiness.
- Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution
by Francis Fukuyama. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002
Fukuyama, author of the influential book, The End of History, and member
of the White House Council on Bioethics suggests that genetic manipulation
will ultimately change what it means to be human.
- Who Should Play God? by Ted Howard and Jeremy Rifkin.
Dell, New York, 1977
Dire warnings about the possible dangers of the new genetic technologies.
- The Code of Codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the Human
Genome Project, by Daniel J. Kevles, Leroy Hood (eds.). Harvard
Univ Press, 1992.
Chapters by key thinkers and researchers from an array of disciplines
make this book a must-read. Good bibliography and glossary.
- Genes VIII by Benjamin Lewin. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004
A leading university-level textbook on genetics.
- Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
by Matt Ridley. Harper Collins, New York, 2000
A popular book in which each chapter focuses on the role of a specific
gene in human development and adult life; Ridley also discusses our
changing social attitudes toward this information.
- Human Molecular Genetics, 3rd Edition by Tom Strachan
and Andrew P. Read. Garland Science, New York, 2004
An up-to-date and comprehensive textbook on human genetics covering
everything from DNA structure to the latest ideas in gene therapy, human
origins and population screening.
- Life Script: How the Human Genome Discoveries Will Transform
Medicine and Enhance your Health by Bryan Sykes. Simon &
Schuster, New York, 2001
The New York Times "Science Times" writer Nicholas Wade traces
the race to sequence the human genome and discusses the potential implications
on medicine and our health.
- The Double Helix by James D. Watson. Atheneum, New
York, 1968
The story of the discovery that launched the genetic revolution, as
told by one of the Nobel Laureate protagonists.
Human Genome Project
Online Resources
Articles
Laboratory Methods & Activities
- Virtual
Flylab, Cal State
If you wanted to take genetics in college but never got around to
it, this computer program lets you do a month of experiments in a
few minutes - without having to sort through piles of little knocked-out
flies. (Paid-access site, with unpaid alternative)
- Virtual Transgenic Fly Lab
A free alternative to the site above, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Lots of fun, and very informative.
- Make Your Own DNA Model out of Candy
A fun, hands-on way to understand the structure of DNA. And you can eat it afterward!
Genetic Data
- Entrez
Genome. National Center for Biotechnology Information
Links to maps, sequences and related resources.
- NIH National
Center for Biotechnology Information
A helpful gateway to many genetic databases and online tools, courtesy
of a special division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
- GDB: The Genome
Database.
The GDB is the official repository for data from the Human Genome Initiative,
a worldwide research effort to locate and sequence all 100,000 or so
human genes.
- The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR)
This site gives you links to a number of genome sequences and sequencing projects. TIGR is a non-profit organization that participated in the Human Genome Project, and produced the first complete genome sequence of a free-living organism in 1995.
- The National Center
for Genome Resources Home Page
The National Center for Genome Resources is a non-profit bioinformatics
company that hosts the Genome Sequence database.
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