Synopsis
The clear, readable, concise, highly polished and refined writing is a traditional strength of HUMAN HEREDITY: PRINCIPLES AND ISSUES. Complex topics and important concepts are presented with great clarity and precise logic, without oversimplifying the topic. In this beautifully illustrated and thoroughly revised new edition, Michael Cummings guides students toward understanding the hows and whys of genetic topics and new discoveries. Using an accessible writing style to explain complex concepts, Cummings includes the right balance of detail at the right level for nonscience students. In addition, he helps student see the social, cultural, and ethical implications associated with the use of genetic technology. In light of the recent developments in these fields (completion of the human genome), Cummings has incorporated such newly acquired "knowledge" and the resulting modern methods and& technology not only in Chapter 13, but also throughout the book, wherever applicable, as a kind of "thematic update." (Before, genetics was research/experiment-driven. Now, it has become data-driven, hence the term "data mining." This edition will also feature a significantly stronger Web integration, mostly built around providing students with the appropriate tools to master the thinking skills needed to learn human genetics. The earlier chapters will feature a web-based "toolbox" which will walk students through the process of understanding, analyzing, and working out problems, and which will in turn enable them to understand the various difficult genetics concepts in the later chapters.
About the Author
Michael Cummings is the author and coauthor of a number of widely used college textbooks, including BIOLOGY: SCIENCE AND LIFE; CONCEPTS OF GENETICS; GENETICS: A MOLECULAR PERSPECTIVE; ESSENTIALS OF GENETICS; HUMAN HEREDITY; and HUMAN GENETICS AND SOCIETY. He has also written articles on aspects of genetics for the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology and has published a newsletter on advances in human genetics for instructors and students. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Northwestern University. His doctoral work, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. R.C. King, centered on ovarian development in Drosophila melanogaster. After a year on the faculty at Northwestern, he moved to the University of Illinois at Chicago, where for many years he held teaching and research positions. In 2003, he joined the faculty in the Department of Biology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and currently holds the title of Research Professor. His current research interests involve the organization of DNA sequences in the short-arm and centromere region of human chromosome 21. He is engaged in a collaborative effort to construct a physical map of this region of chromosome 21 for the purpose of exploring molecular mechanisms of chromosome interactions. At the undergraduate level, he has focused on teaching genetics, human genetics for non-majors, and general biology to majors and non-majors. He has received awards given by the university faculty for outstanding teaching, has twice been voted by graduating seniors as the best teacher in their years on campus, and has received several teaching awards from student organizations.
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