Steve Jones - The Language of the Genes

Those not put off by scientific terminology — and genetics is plagued with jargon — should try Mange, E.J. and Mange, A.P (1998) Basic Human Genetics (Sinauer, Sunderland, Ma.), Strachan, T. and Read, A.P. (1999) Human Molecular Genetics (Wiley) or, for a comprehensive treatment, Vogel, F. and Motulsky, A. G. (1997): Human Genetics — Problems and Approaches (Springer-Verlag, NY). A wealth of internet links leads to aspects of modern genetics. The main data-base for inherited disease is OMIM (On-Line Mendelian Inheritance in Man) at http: llwww3.ncbi.nlm.nih.-gov.8o/Omim/. It contains an encyclopaedic, up-to-date and highly technical account of human inheritance. The Human Genome Project has its own web-page at http://www.nhgn.nih.gov./HGP/wh'ich is matched by a British equivalent from the Sanger Centre in Cambridge: http://ivebace.sanger.ac.uk.

My own jointly-edited book The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution (eds. Steve Jones, Robert Marrin and David Pil-beam, Cambridge University Press, 1992) has articles on human and primate palaeontology, comparative anatomy, anthropology and genetics. Many of these subjects are covered in more depth by How Humans Evolved by R. Boyd and J.B Silk (W. W. Norton and Company, 1997) and Principles of Human Evolution: A Core Textbook by R. Lewin (Blackwell Science, Oxford, 1998). For engaging tales about evolution and its eccentrics one can do no better than The Encyclopedia of Evolution by Richard Milner (Facts on File, 1990). I have used language as a metaphor tor evolutionary change and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal (Cambridge University Press, z"' 1Edition, 1997) is a witty and complete introduction to linguistics for readers who, like me, come from outside the subject.

For those who wish to pursue further the points raised in individual chapters, the following list may be of some help. It is far from exhaustive and, because of space constraints, many topics covered in the text are not referred to here.

INTRODUCTION: THE FINGERPRINTS OF HISTORY

Keynes, M. 1993. Sir Francis Calton, FRS. The Legacy of His Ideas.

Macmillan, London. Kevles, D. 1986. Inthe Name of Eugenics. Genetics and the Uses of

Human Heredity. Penguin, London, and University of California

Press, Berkeley. Proctor, R. N. 1988. Racial Hygiene: Medicine under the Nazis.

Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Ma.

CHAPTER ONE: A MESSAGE FROM OUR ANCESTORS

Burley, J. 1999 (ed). The Genetic Revolution and Human Rights. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Bowman, J.E, and Murray, R.F. 1990. Genetic Variation and Disorders in Peoples of African Origin. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Esteban J. et al. 1998. Estimating African-American admixture proportions by use of population-specific alleles American. Journal of Human Genetics. 63:1839–1851.

Oner, C. etal. 1992. Beta Shaplotypes in various world populations. Human Genetics 89: 99-104.

Neel, J. V. et al. 1988. Protein variation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki: tales of two cities. American Journal of Human Genetics 43: 870–893.

CHAPTER TWO: THE RULES OF THE CAME

There are many introductory texts in genetics which deal with the rules of inheritance. One of the most comprehensive and up-ro-date is An Introduction to Genetic Analysis by A. J. F. Griffith vt al.

(7th Edition, 2.000; W. H. Freeman). Genetics: Principles and Analysis {Jones and Bartlett, 4 lhEdition, 1998) by Daniel L. Hard and Elizabeth W. Jones is impressively clear, white my own Introducing Genetics (with Borin van l.oon: Icon Books London, 2000), if nothing else, lives up to its title.

CMAI'Tl'R THRKE: HERODOTUS REVISED

The cystic fibrosis story is described in Tsui, L.-C. and Buchwald, M., 1991. Biochemical and molecular genetics of cystic fibrosis. Advances in Human Genetics zo: 153–266. As gene mapping is proceeding so quickly it is difficult to keep up to date. A sampler of recent work includes:

Chinnery, P. F. and Turnbull, D. M. 1999. Mitochondria I DNA and disease. Lancet 354 supp i: 17–21; Dunham, I., et al. 1999. The DNA sequence of human chromosome 22. Nature 402: 489–495; Little, P. 1999. The book of genes. Nature 402: 467–468; and Hattori, M. et al. 2000. The DNA sequence of human chromosome 11. Nature 405: 311–219. The web-sites for the Human Genome Project (see above) are filled with the latest information on human gene mapping. Weiss, K.M. 1998. Coming to terms with human variation. Ann.

Rev. Anthropol. zj: 273–300 Wright, A.F., Carothers, A.D. and Pirastu, M. 1999. Population

choice in mapping genes for complex diseases. Nature Genetics

CHAPTER FOUR: CHANGE OR DECAY

Ames, B.N., Profet, M. and Gold, L.S. 1990. Dietary pesticides (99,^9 % all natural). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 87: 7777–7781.

Crow, J.F. 1997. The high spontaneous mutation rate: is it a health risk? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94: 8380–8386.

Ferguson, L. R. 1999. Natural and man-made mutagens and carcinogens in the human diet. Mutation Research 443: i-ro.

Garner, C. 1992. Molecular potential. Nature 360: 107-2.08.

Green, P. M., et al. 1999. Mutation rates in humans. I. Overall and sex-specific rates obtained from a population study of haemophilia B. American Journal of Human Genetics 65: 1572–1579.

CHAPTER FIVЕ: CALIBAN'S ****

Gayan, J et al. 1999. Quantitative-trait Incus for specific language and reading deficits on chromosome 6p. American Journal of Human Genetics 64:157–164.

Stinson, S. 1992. Nutritional adaptation. Annual Review of Anthropology it: 143–170. (Diet, genetics and health).

Bouchard, T. J. et al. 1990. Sources of human psychological differences: the Minnesota study of twins reared apart. Science 250.: 223–228.

Holgate, S. et al. 1999. The epidemic of allergy and asthma. Nature 402: supp B2-B39.

Owen, M. J. and Cardno, A.G. 1999. Psychiatric genetics: progress, problems and potential. Lancet 354 suppl 1: n—14.

O'Donovan, M. C. and Owen, M. J. 1999. Candidate-gene association studies of schizophrenia. American Journal of Human Genetics 65: 587–592.

CHAPTER SIX: BEHIND THE SCREEN

Holtzman, N. and Shapiro, D. 1998. Genetic testing and public

policy. British Medical Journal 316: 852–856. Kinmonth, A. L., et al. 1998. The new genetics: implications for

clinical services in Britain and the United States. British Medical

Journal 316: 767–770. Krynetsti, E.Y. and Evans, W. E. 1998. Pharmacogenetics of cancer therapy: getting personal. American Journal of Human Genetics

63: ir-16.

Lenaghan, J. 1998. Brave New NHS? The Impact of the New Genetics on the Health Service Institute for Public Policy Research,

London. Mao, X., j 998. Chinese geneticists' views of ethical issues in genetic

testing and screening: evidence for eugenics in China. American

Journal of Human Genetics. 63: 688–695. Martcau, T. and Croyle, R. T. 1998. Psychological responses to

genetic testing. British Medical, journal 316, 693–393. Rothenberg, K.et al. 1997. Genetic information and the workplace:

legislative approaches and policy challenges. Science 275: 1755-

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES

Maynard Smith J. 1988. Evolutionary Genetics. Oxford University Press. (The origin and maintenance of sex.}