The Complete Idiot's Guide to Decoding Your Genes

Rating:
Summary: A simple guide to the complex field of genes.
Review: An enjoyable read. Great at explaining the very involved world of genetics. You'll come away amazed by what you've learned about what really goes on in your cells, what problems arise when genes go wrong, and how it all fits together to make us possible.

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!!!!!
Review: I am a middle school teacher and I used this book in my classroom to supplement the text the students already have and they absolutely loved it! Not to mention the students got a kick out of the title of this book. I would highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to know ANYTHING about genes or heredity. It is easy enough for a child to understand, but interesting enough for a person of any age. Great book!

Rating:
Summary: Rather disappointing
Review: I guess if you have a modicum of intelligence you shouldn't bother with such books. I've never looked at one before. I'm not an idiot, just didn't know a lot about genetics and wanted a basic guide. So, I reasoned, get this book and even your most simple questions will be answered! Not so. For example, there's a lot of talk about how cells need walls to keep everything from falling out. OK then, so my first question is, what about the tops and bottoms of the cells? In the picture there's no cell wall there and yet nothing falls out? Simple, basic question, but no answer in this book. Later it talks a lot about how mistakes in copying genes can cause birth defects. But what causes this mistakes in the first place? Isn't that a very basic thing to wonder? To find out I had to read another book, Teach Yourself Genetics, which despite being a much smaller book devotes a whole chapter to the sources of radiation in our environment. At times the Tagliaferro book even makes me wonder whether she understands the concepts. If you read her book, you'll even get the idea that messagenger RNA and transfer RNA are the same thing. But you will get all the science interrupted constantly by this history of genetics research stuff which only distracts and really belongs in a different book. My recommendation: avoid this and get Teach Yourself Genetics which has the added advantage of being much more compact as well.

Rating:
Summary: Rather disappointing
Review: I guess if you have a modicum of intelligence you shouldn't bother with such books. I've never looked at one before. I'm not an idiot, just didn't know a lot about genetics and wanted a basic guide. So, I reasoned, get this book and even your most simple questions will be answered! Not so. For example, there's a lot of talk about how cells need walls to keep everything from falling out. OK then, so my first question is, what about the tops and bottoms of the cells? In the picture there's no cell wall there and yet nothing falls out? Simple, basic question, but no answer in this book. Later it talks a lot about how mistakes in copying genes can cause birth defects. But what causes this mistakes in the first place? Isn't that a very basic thing to wonder? To find out I had to read another book, Teach Yourself Genetics, which despite being a much smaller book devotes a whole chapter to the sources of radiation in our environment. At times the Tagliaferro book even makes me wonder whether she understands the concepts. If you read her book, you'll even get the idea that messagenger RNA and transfer RNA are the same thing. But you will get all the science interrupted constantly by this history of genetics research stuff which only distracts and really belongs in a different book. My recommendation: avoid this and get Teach Yourself Genetics which has the added advantage of being much more compact as well.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended - an instructional and enjoyable read
Review: I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick reference for anything that has to do with genetic engineering or cloning in any way, shape or form. I have no background in biology, but I found this Complete Idiot's Guide extremely easy to follow, and fun to read as well. There are numerous boxes in each chapter that explain the derivation of some of the scientific names. I found this made it easier for me to remember what each word meant. I also enjoyed the (sometimes groan-inducing) puns and humor. I didn't think there was anything funny about genes, but there are some humorous titles to each chapter, and some jokes that make it easier to remember how these genetic processes take place. It takes some of the intimidation out of reading about a very cerebral subject.

There are also boxes in each chapter with fascinating stories related to genetic technolgies. For instance, a detective followed a man highly suspected of a crime. The man was on a motorcycle, and when he stopped for a red light, he spit in the street. The detective collected this and when a DNA test was run, the suspect's DNA proved to be the same as that collected at the scene of a crime.

I found that I learned a tremendous amount about basic genetics from the introductory chapters. This made it easier for me to go on to the chapters about how DNA was discovered, and how DNA is cut and then pasted into diverging life forms to create novel plants and animals. There are illustrations that clearly show how, for example, Dolly the sheep was cloned, and how bacteria with novel genes are put into plants, giving them new characteristics to make them impervious to disease or to give them other desired traits.

I especially enjoyed reading the numerous chapters on the ethical questions that have been brought up because of current advances in genetic engineering and cloning. The book gives a wealth of pro and con arguments that gave me much food for thought. I now feel that I can intelligently discuss in depth the reasons for and against going forth with these technologies, and the book
encourages readers to have an active voice in the debates.

It's not the kind of book you sit down and read in one sitting, but if you have any questions about the current advances in genetics, you can go to the index and look that particular subject. You can jump right into the pertinent chapter, and you'll find your answer. Each chapter ends with a quick review of
what you've learned, so it reinforces the new concepts in an easy way.