Title: Old School Genetics
Product review: Published in 1965, "The Gene Concept" is a condensed handbook of old school genetics. The author sets out to describe some of the early experiments that led to modern day genetic concepts. Unfortunately, we are not taken from the "characters" and "elements" of Mendel to the molecular nucleotide sequence within the genome as smoothly as one might expect. Eventhough we are told that the text will clarify, the author does little to clearly define the terms used in the book such as trait, factor, gene, allele, non-alleles, sets of factors, sets of alleles, etc. Many of these terms are overloaded and used interchangeably throughout, leaving the reader to determine the meaning on his own from within context. For the uninitiated, this terse book would be extremely confusing. The beginning student, if not turned away, would have many unanswered questions.
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