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Kevin E. Thom of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee reviews "The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality" by Kathryn Paige Harden. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: "Analyzes how genetics correlate with inequalities in adult outcomes, promoting an egalitarian, anti-eugenic argument for acknowledging the importance of genetic causes and embracing the use of genetic research tools." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the large quantity and wide variety of popular science books available in biology, most undergraduate biology majors seldom read full-length books outside of class. To ensure that the students in my Writing in Biology class are exposed to such books, I assign a book review essay and provide an annotated list of a few dozen books in genetics, evolution, and other areas of biology. The assignment also includes a section on the book author's style, in which students use material discussed earlier in the class. Informal presentations of the books provide opportunities for various discussions. The assignment (including the list of books) is included in an Additional file 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ken Burns, a well-known documentarian has produced a film titled, "The Gene: An Intimate History" based on Siddhartha Mukherjee's book by the same name. The film focuses sharply on the history of genetics, the science of inheritance and variation, in particular, the gene, the central player in genetics, its discovery, structure and function as well as its myriad influence on development, growth, health, disease and evolution of all organisms. Importantly, he has shown how geneticists, physicians, patients and their families as well as society at large must cooperate, develop mutual trust and share ethical responsibilities in order to predict, prevent, manage and cure many inherited disorders. Mr. Burns has reinforced these ideas beautifully with illustrations, archived film footage, location filming and commentaries. The film also hints at the need for taking a unified Darwinian-Mendelian and Hippocratic approach toward building a healthier human society. In short, this is a beautiful and engrossing documentary on the future of Genetic Medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

But it is just such an earthy history of the gene from genetics to postgenomics that is the focus of Hans-Jörg Rheinberger and Staffan Müller-Wille's new work. As cytological studies were paired with approaches based in chemical genetics to hone in on resolving the gene in terms of its molecular dimensions, the gene became a unit of function in more mathematical models, demonstrating the further "ramifications of the gene concept" that had begun to emerge (55). Rather than being "prime movers", genes can now be seen as "resources" for organisms (93) or even as higher-order genomic structures, complex developmental networks that "are not determined by the genes and their products alone" (97). [Extracted from the article]

Rapid progress in the field of population genetics, in particular advances in DNA sequencing technology, calls for an up‐to‐speed textbook that is appropriate for current researchers and students. Molecular Population Genetics, by Matthew Hahn (2018), is an informative and entertaining text that attempts to satisfy this demand. Although it has notable shortcomings and does not replace current texts for undergraduate courses, this book is a worthwhile resource for almost any researcher analysing population genetic data and is a must‐have for graduate student reading lists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]