Modern Genetics: Engineering Life

VOYA - Rayna Patton

This eight-volume series deals with advances in science and technology that impact lives. Other series titles are Modern Robotics, Modern Astronomy, Communications and Broadcasting, Forensic Science, Modern Marine Science, Mathematics, and Artificial Intelligence. Each book begins with an introduction giving a quick historic overview of the field, followed by biographies, arranged more or less chronologically, of people whose work was important during the twentieth century and up to the present. Writing throughout is more than adequate. Each biography will engage interested students and help report writers to get a real feel for the scientist or inventor they are investigating. Black-and-white photos and other illustrations are well chosen, and extensive lists of additional resources make each book doubly useful. Modern Genetics is a revised edition of Yount's Genetics and Genetic Engineering (Facts on File, 1997). The first chapter is on Watson and Crick and the elucidation of the genetic code that won them the Nobel Prize. Recent advances in this rapidly evolving field include embryonic stem cells, genetic engineering, inherited diseases, the genetics of aging, Ian Wilmut and Dolly, and the sequencing of the human genome. Overall these carefully researched and well-presented books should be a worthwhile addition to the high school collection.

Children's Literature - RevaBeth Russell

This title was a fun, exciting book to read. The stories about individuals make science approachable and personable. The scientists are introduced as having three-dimensional lives, rather than just being researchers at the bench. Connections are made between the person's work and what else was happening in science and technology. Unfamiliar words are defined in the back of the book. Simple, understandable explanations are given about gene therapy, cloning, and genetically engineered products. In the 1980s, scientists found that one base difference in a gene can switch it from a normal gene to a cancer gene, and that cancer always starts with a change of genes. One can learn this and much more by reading this book. The illustrations and pictures used enhance the text. There is a chronology given for each scientist discussed. This book is an excellent bridge from the science and scientist to the everyday person and especially useful in the classroom.