Written by H. Skirton, C. Patch and J. Williams, "Applied Genetics in Healthcare - a handbook for specialist practitioners" is an easy introduction to medical genetics and its practice, with some helpful hints for all professionals. Starting from the basics of genetic biology, the authors discuss some different aspects of the approach to patients and their families. The trained geneticist will find himself already familiar with these, yet he might be surprised by some interesting curiosities. For instance, did you know that, according to what reported by Strachan and Read, it is believed that some paternally derived genes may be imprinted to protect the mother from the aggressive demands for nutrients from the foetus while, conversely, some maternal genes are imprinted to allow the foetus to grow adequately? Or, did you know that the mitochondrial disorders are mainly affecting the neuromuscualr system just because neuron cells have more mitochondria than other types of cells? And definitively a must-read is the chapter on Bayesian risk calculations: don't miss it!
If you are interested, Applied Genetics in Healthcare - a handbook for specialist practitioners is available at Amazon:
Reference:
H. Skirton, C. Patch and J. Williams, Applied Genetics in Healthcare - a handbook for specialist practioners; Taylor & Francis, 2005.
