The Family Genetic Sourcebook

A straightforward guide to human heredity and genetic traits. The Family Genetic Sourcebook If biology is destiny, then we owe it to ourselves and our families to learn all we can about the genetic mechanisms that shape our lives. Enhanced by photographs, line drawings, charts, and tables, The Family Genetic Sourcebook gives you quick, easy understanding of the principles of heredity and genetic traits, presented in concise, accessible language. A comprehensive "Catalog of Genetic Traits" lists more than 100 genetic traits including blood type, balding, right- or left-handedness, hair color, and disorders including Down's syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, Alzheimer's disease, and alcoholism. Each entry in the catalog offers a brief description of the trait or disorder and an explanation of its inheritance. There are also instructions on constructing your own family genetic tree. The Family Genetic Sourcebook also offers a succinct introduction to the principles of heredity--with discussion of the history of genetics, how genetic traits are inherited, genetic counseling, the treatment of genetic disorders, and more. Family members, couples planning families, and health care professionals and counselors will find this nontechnical yet comprehensive guide to genetics to be an invaluable resource in understanding the relationship between heredity, ourselves, and our families.

The Practical Guide to The Genetic Family History Robin L. Bennett Compiling the most recent genetic developments in medical specialties, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History is a valuable resource which outlines the proper methods for taking and recording a patient's family medical history, allowing primary care physicians to be more efficient in diagnosing conditions with potential genetic components. With genetic screening forms, an overview of directed questions, pedigree nomenclature, and outlining common approaches used, genetic counselor Robin L. Bennett provides readers with the basic foundation in human genetics necessary to recognize inherited disorders and familial disease susceptibility in patients. As the only guide which is geared for the physician in this field, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History includes remarks by renowned medical geneticist Arno Motulsky, as well as information on structuring an accurate pedigree and its components, including: * Using a pedigree to identify individuals with an increased susceptibility to cancer * Family history, adoption, and their challenges * The connection between the pedigree and assisted reproductive technologies * Making referrals for genetic services * Neurological and neuromuscular conditions * Tables covering hearing loss, mental retardation, dementia, and seizures * Five case studies of genetics in practice An essential reference for genetics clinics, medical geneticists, and counselors, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History is also an invaluable aid for both primary care and specialist physicians who need an up-to-date reference that emphasizes both the science and art of modern clinical genetics.

This volume provides a diverse, eclectic, and paradoxically mature approach to theorizing and demonstrates how the development of theory is crucial to the future of family research.".

This book covers the foundations of genes and heredity to give readers a solid understanding of what modern genetics has been built on, before examining the ways in which genetic testing is used to assess genetic risk.

The purpose of this book is to acquaint professionals who work with children who have a genetic disorder with the common physical characteristics, learning profiles, and health and psychosocial problems found in these conditions. The uniqueness and individual strengths and characteristics of each child are clearly recognized. The disorders chosen for discussion are those in which intervention can have a significant impact on the child's comfort and/or ultimate adult functioning. By having adequate information, educational, social, and therapy programs can be developed to fit the individual needs of the child. The text begins with a review of basic genetic principles and the general characteristics of a genetic syndrome. It gives general information that is appropriate to many conditions such as the elements of a barrier-free school, the role of therapists, and when to consider referral to a genetic clinic. Over forty specific genetic disorders are then individually described and specific medical, educational, therapy, and psychosocial issues for each are addressed. Also included are a glossary, resource directory, and other suggested readings.

This book presents the results of a thirty-five-year research project involving 300 families, each of whom adopted at least one child at birth from a Texas home for unwed mothers during the period of 1962-1970. The book weaves together information about the birth parents of the adopted children; information about the adoptive parents; and information about the children in these families. Children adopted at birth have two sets of parents. Birth parents provide their adopted-away child with a genetic endowment, but do not participate in shaping the child's environment. Adoptive parents do not contribute genetically, but are otherwise in charge of directing the child's development. If adopted children grow up to resemble birth parents they have never seen, the clear inference is that hereditary factors have had an influence. Environmental factors are implicated whenever children resemble their adoptive parents, but not the birth parents. The Texas Adoption Project was designed to investigate the impact of genetic and environmental factors. This unique and innovative longitudinal study is written for specialists and the educated public. An introductory guide is provided for the non-specialist reader explaining the form and statistical content of the tables. Additional technical material for specialists is contained in appendices. This important contribution to the literature on adoption will also be of interest to those interested in the relative weight of genetics and environment in human development.

William James and John Dewey insisted that pragmatic philosophy finds meaning in its struggle to deal with emergent social problems. Ironically, few have attempted to use pragmatism to articulate methods for ameliorating social difficulties. This dissertation attempts to do just that by putting James' and Dewey's philosophy to work on the moral and scientific problems associated with genetic engineering and the Human Genome Project. The intention is to demonstrate the usefulness of a pragmatic approach to applied ethics and philosophy of biology. The work of proponents and critics of genetic engineering is examined, including LeRoy Hood, Hans Jonas, Leon Kass, Robert Nozick, Jeremy Rifkin, Robyn Rowland, and Paul Ramsey. It is concluded that excessive optimism and pessimism about genetic engineering rests primarily on two errors. The first, basic to the Genome Project, is that organisms are essentially determined by their genes, and that the expression of genes is identical across human populations. I draw both on Richard Lewontin and on Dewey's Logic: The Theory of Inquiry to argue that the formation of human natures is instead the result of a fluid and interpenetrative relationship between hereditary information and varying environmental conditions. Organisms express DNA in different ways under different circumstances, and DNA itself is modified by exposure to mutagens. The second error prevalent in the literature is the belief that genetic engineering is uniquely problematic, requiring a new kind of ethics. To counter the received view, I detail numerous cases in the history of biology and philosophy in which humans have faced moral choices similar to those present in the new genetics. In addition, I resituate new reproductive decisions in the context of everyday problems faced by parents in society, arguing that the hopes and choices of parents provide a matrix within which genetic decisions can be made. I caution against the expansion of genetic diagnosis, and detail some of the greatest real dangers present in positive genetic engineering. Finally, I suggest pragmatic alternatives to positive genetic engineering, including education and health care reform.

This authoritative book gathers together a broad range of ideas and topics that define the field. It provides clear, concise, and comprehensive coverage of all aspects of cellular physiology from fundamental concepts to more advanced topics. The Third Edition contains substantial new material. Most chapters have been thoroughly reworked. The book includes chapters on important topics such as sensory transduction, the physiology of protozoa and bacteria, the regulation of cell division, and programmed cell death. Completely revised and updated - includes 8 new chapters on such topics as membrane structure, intracellular chloride regulation, transport, sensory receptors, pressure, and olfactory/taste receptors Includes broad coverage of both animal and plant cells Appendixes review basics of the propagation of action potentials, electricity, and cable properties Authored by leading experts in the field Clear, concise, comprehensive coverage of all aspects of cellular physiology from fundamental concepts to more advanced topics