An Introduction to Genetic Engineering

by Dr Desmond S. T. Nicholl

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521615216

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Book Description

This is a thoroughly updated third edition of this undergraduate-level text, for students taking biotechnology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry courses. Contains many new additions, including text boxes, chapter summaries, key word listings, concept maps, and a glossary, which have been designed to enable students to tailor their study to suit their own learning styles.

Book Reviews

'An easy to follow narrative, accompanied by simple, clear diagrams, provides the interested student with the background needed ... the book, therefore, fills an important niche and should be brought to the attention of upper-level undergraduate students and beginning graduate students in any branch of biology that makes use of molecular techniques.' ASM News

'... easy to read, clear and well organised ... I certainly recommend it for all sixth-form libraries. In addition, this is an accessible but comprehensive basic text for the undergraduate to use.' Pauline Lowrie, Biology

'I know my days of being lost and struggling to find my way in genetic engineering lectures would not have happened if I had come across this textbook much earlier.' Journal of Biological Education

About the Author

Des Nicholl is a Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland, UK.

Customer Reviews

Nicholl covers every pertinent aspect of this fascinating field of science and engineering in this book in a clear and comprehensible way. His use of concept maps to summarize the key concepts in each chapter is a tremendously effective tool.

Nicholl approaches this subject in a schematic way. That is to say, he makes considerable use of idealized diagrams to explain the many components and characteristics of genetic materials and processes. The terminology will be a challenge for non-geneticists, but Nicholl has included a fairly comprehensive glossary of terms at the end of the book.

I highly recommend this text to anyone interested in understanding the basics of GE and its implications for our world.

First off, I would have given this book 5 stars if value was the main consideration. You can't beat the price for what you are getting with this work. It provides a very concise overview of modern gene technology, though that conciseness is the underlying drawback of this text. Another thing I didn't like about this text is that that everything is in black and white. With today's printing capabilities, B/W is sub-standard. Although, I must express that even with the limited resources put into the printing, the diagrams are well thought out and the graphical explanations are very well delivered considering there is no color to work with. As mentioned above, for a compact text that weighs next to nothing compared to a full text-book you can't argue against its value.

This book is divided into three parts. Part I covers the basic gene technology principles. Part II deals with the methods of rDNA technologies. And Part III discusses some applications of rDNA with some minor references to non-rDNA biotechnologies for comparison purposes. Part I and Part II seem somewhat dry, especially with the terseness involved with cramming the whole subject into such a small book. It takes a lot of interest in the subject to keep the attention span. It also is a bit difficult to follow at times and re-reading parts and perhaps referencing external texts may be necessary to obtain a good comprehension of the material at hand. One fantastic feature is that the author provides a "summary chart" at the end of each chapter. The educational impact of this technique is remarkable and I wish this was used more in many other texts. Part III is where the juicy material is covered. After all the foundation is laid, Part III makes for easy reading and brings to light the knowledge you gain from the former parts.

Readers of this book should have some background knowledge of genetics or molecular biology. That would help overcome the terseness of the presentation material. Overall, this book provides a decent academic overview of the subject without the sidetracking toward the many examples and specific details contained in full texts.