Resources

There are many published accounts of the history of genetics, but some of the most exciting versions were written by the pioneering researchers themselves. Although many sources were used to construct the historical overview and highlights contained in this book, James Watson's The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), Francis Crick's memoir What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery (London: Sloan Foundation Science Series, Basic Books, 1990), and Alfred Sturtevant's A History of Genetics (New York: HarperCollins College Division, 1965) provided especially useful insights. The Mechanisms of Mendelian Heredity (New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1915) and The Theory of the Gene (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1926) offer detailed descriptions of ground-breaking genetic research. Ricki Lewis and Bernard Possidente offer more recent history in A Short History of Genetics and Genetic Engineering (New York: Cold Spring Harbor Library, 2003).

Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (London: John Murray, 1859) and The Descent of Man (London: John Murray, 1871) provide historical perspectives on evolution. The discussion of nature versus nurture is drawn from Neil Whitehead's My Genes Made Me Do It! A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation (Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1999), as well as Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (New York: Touch-stone Books, 1996) and David Cohen's Stranger in the Nest: Do Parents Really Shape Their Child's Personality, Intelligence, or Character? (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999). Ethical issues arising from genetic research and engineering are analyzed in Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002) by Francis Fukuyama, Playing God? Human Genetic Engineering and the Rationalization of Public Bioethical Debate (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002) by John Evans, and Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age (New York: Times Books, 2003) by Bill McKibben.

The journals Nature and Science have reported every significant finding and development in genetics, and articles dating from 1953 from both publications are cited in this text, as are articles from Scientific American, Nature Biotechnology, NewScientist.com, and e-biomed: The Journal of Regenerative Medicine. Research describing genetic testing, disorders, and genetic predisposition to disease is reported in professional medical journals. Studies cited in this book were published in the American Journal of Nursing, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Archives of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal, Hospitals & Health Networks, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, and Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Ethical and psychological issues and the contributions of genetics to personality and behavior are examined in articles published in the American Journal of Bioethics, Archives of General Psychiatry, British Journal of Psychiatry, European Psychologist, Health Affairs, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Psychological Review.

In addition to the U.S. daily newspapers and electronic media, accounts of genetics research and milestones in the Human Genome Project were reported in the United Kingdom in the Daily Express, Guardian, Mirror, The Sun, and Telegraph, and in the U.S. magazines Newsweek, New Yorker, and Time.

The Human Genome Project Information Web site, operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, describes the ambitious goals and accomplishments of the Human Genome Project since its inception in 1990. The Environmental Genome Project was launched by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The National Institutes of Health provides definitions, epidemiological data, and research findings about a comprehensive range of genetic tests and genetic disorders.

Public opinion data from the following organizations was also very helpful: Los Angeles Times Poll, NBC News/ Wall Street Journal Poll, Time /CNN Poll, and the Gallup Organization. The Genetics and Public Policy Center is a part of the Phoebe R. Berman Bioethics Institute at the Johns Hopkins University. Additionally, many colleges, universities, medical centers, professional associations, and foundations dedicated to research, education, and advocacy about genetic disorders and diseases provided up-to-date information included in this edition.