Genes

Sir Paul Nurse, Director, Francis Crick Institute This is a concise and accurate account of genes and what they are in a readable and convenient format.

Steve Jones, University College London Unlike the genetic material itself, this book is short, sharp, and to the point.

Armand Leroi, Imperial College, London We all need to know what genes are. Slack tells us with authority, clarity and grace.

Adam Rutherford, University College London The essential guide for getting up to speed with the ever-changing and crazily complex science of genetics.

Laurence Hurst, Director of The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath With more heat than light in many areas surrounding genetics, it is refreshing to have such a concise, precise and matter-of-fact introduction to the field. This is strongly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in a field set to dominate our lives.

Jonathan Slack studied at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities. His specialities are embryonic development and stem cell biology. While working for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund he discovered the first inducing factor controlling embryonic development. He was Head of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Bath from 2000-2006 and Director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota from 2007-2012. He is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), was awarded the Waddington Medal of the British Society for Developmental Biology in 2002 and elected a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2004. He is author of Stem Cells: A Very Short Introduction (2021, OUP).

Preface List of illustrations 1: Genes before 1944 2: Genes as DNA 3: Mutations and gene variants 4: Genes as markers 5: Genes of small effect 6: Genes in evolution Conclusion: the varied concepts of the gene Further reading Glossary Index