Robert C. King - Böcker

This eighth edition of A Dictionary of Genetics contains over 7,500 up-to-date and cross-referenced entries, including 540 that are newly written. The entries include the latest terminology, concepts, theories, and techniques, covering not only genetics but also such overlapping disciplines as cell biology, medicine, and evolutionary biology. The fully revised six appendices are a unique source of detailed supplementary information, including a chronology of scientific and technological breakthroughs spanning the period from 1590 to the present, lists of useful internet sites and journals, and a table of sample genome sizes and gene numbers. A Dictionary of Genetics continues to be the definitive reference work for students, educators, and clinicians in the field of genetics.

The purpose of this and future volumes of the Handbook of Genetics is to bring together a collection of relatively short, authoritative essays or annotated compilations of data on topics of significance to geneticists. Many of the essays will deal with various aspects of the biology of certain species selected because they are favorite subjects for genetic investigation in nature or the laboratory. Often there will be an encyclopedic amount of information available on such a species, with new papers appearing daily. Most of these will be written for specialists in a jargon that is be­ wildering to a novice, and sometimes even to a veteran geneticist working with evolutionarily distant organisms. For such readers what is needed is a written introduction to the morphology, life cycle, reproductive be­ havior, and culture methods for the species in question. What are its par­ ticular advantages (and disadvantages) for genetic study, and what have we learned from it? Where are the classic papers, the key bibliographies, and how does one get stocks of wild type or mutant strains? The chapters devoted to different species will contain information of this sort. Only a few hundreds of the millions of species available to biologists have been subjected to detailed genetic study. However, those that have make up a very heterogeneous sample of the living world.

The purpose of this and future volumes of the Handbook of Genetics is to bring together a collection of relatively short, authoritative essays or annotated compilations of data on topics of~ignificance to geneticists. Many of the essays will deal with various aspects of the biology of certain species selected because they are favorite subjects for genetic investigation in nature or the laboratory. Often there will be an encyclopedic amount o( information available on such a species, with new papers appearing daily. Most of these will be written for specialists in a jargon that is bewildering to a novice and sometimes even to a veteran geneticist working with evolu­ tionarily distant organisms. For such readers what is needed is a written introduction to the morphology, life cycle, reproductive behavior, and cul­ ture methods for the species in question. What are its particular ad­ vantages (and disadvantages) for genetic study, and what have we learned from it? Where are the classic papers, the key bibliographies, and how or mutant strains? A list giving the sym­ does one get stocks of wild type bolism for unknown mutations is helpful, but it need include only those mutants that have been retained and are thus available for future studies. Other data, such as up-to-date genetic and cytological maps, listings of break points for chromosomal aberrations, mitotic karyotypes, and hap­ loid DNA values, will be included when available.