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eBook/Digital Version available from:
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Score: 92 |
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| The Origin and Development of Genetic Therapies: From Magic and Superstition to Molecular Genetics and the Human Genome |
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ISBN: 978-0-19-768997-4,
204 pages,
Soft Cover
ISBN-10: 0-19-768997-3 |
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| Copyright: |
2025 |
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| Edition: |
1st |
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| Author: |
Friedmann, Theodore |
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Specialties:
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Genetics
, Clinical Genetics |
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| Publisher: |
Oxford University Press |
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| List Price: |
$59.00 |
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At A Glance
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From the discoveries of the principles of genetic inheritance in the 19th century to the development of the concepts of human molecular genetic disease in the 20th century, the treatment of human disease has been transformed from a focus on symptoms to the goal of correcting underlying genetic defects which are the cause of many human diseases. Here, Theodore Friedmann shows that this scientific revolution in medicine compares in importance to Copernicus's demonstration of the sun-centered order of the planetary system, the 18th and 19th century discoveries of the cellular structure of living systems, germ theory of disease, the invention of anaesthesia, and the discovery that genetic information is stored and transmitted by DNA. The Origin and Development of Genetic Therapies explores the origins and early developmental history of the medical field of gene therapy. Friedmann examines the early failures and increasingly promising clinical "successes" for this new approach to cure genetic disease and explores how the concepts of gene therapy can affect human hereditary and human evolution.
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Reviewer:
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Mark Sanders,
PhD
(UC Davis College of Biological Sciences)
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Range
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Question
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Score
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| 1-10 |
Are the author's objectives met? |
10 |
| 1-10 |
Rate the worthiness of those objectives. |
10 |
| 1-5 |
Is this written at an appropriate level? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the authority of the authors. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient illustrations? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the print quality of the illustrations. |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient references? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the currency of the references. |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the pertinence of the references. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the helpfulness of the index. |
4 |
| 1-5 |
If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book |
4 |
| 1-10 |
Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? |
10 |
| 1-10 |
If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? |
N/A |
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Reviewer:
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Mark Sanders,
PhD
(UC Davis College of Biological Sciences)
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Description
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| This book offers a brief history of many of the most important advancements in genetics in the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries and the people who accomplished them. Molecular genetics and medical genetics are undergoing revolutionary change, largely driven by advancements in genomics and by the ability to manipulate genes and gene expression. |
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Purpose
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| The book intends to be a chronicle of the origins of the ability to circumvent the disease-generating effects of aberrant genes and the ability to manipulate the content of genes. This is a very worthy objective and one that the book meets and exceeds by discussing much of how the realm of therapeutic genetics has arrived where it is today. |
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Audience
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| Anyone interested in the field of genetics gene therapy will find this book informative and easy reading. It is written for broad public consumption and makes no assumptions about the scientific knowledge base of its audience. At the same time, research professionals, graduate students, physicians and others working in medical fields touched by these new genetic therapeutic approaches will enjoy and benefit from learning more about the history of their field. The author is as credible an authority as one could find in this field, having been an active and respected participant for his entire career. |
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Features
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| This book comprises 23 short but highly informative chapters. It begins with two chapters describing the earliest foundations of Western understanding of and exploration of health and disease. Another chapter covers the key 19th century players: Mendel, Darwin, and Galton. The next five chapters cover 19th and early 20th century advancements in understanding gene action. This is followed by two chapters describing early molecular biology. The latter half of the book takes readers through the development of molecular genetics as a "manipulative science" as the book calls it. These are the steps and discoveries, beginning around 1970, that brought molecular genetics to the present day and the ability to not just circumvent hereditary disease, but to potentially cure it. |
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Assessment
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| This is a first-rate book that no library should be without. It provides as close to a first-hand account of the history of molecular genetics and therapeutic genetics as one could hope for. It is an easy and compelling read, and it comes with the highest recommendation for anyone interested in this field. |
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