Features

New to This Edition

Introduction to Genetic Analysis is now supported in Achieve, Macmillan’s new online learning platform. Achieve is the culmination of years of development work put toward creating the most powerful online learning tool for biology students. It houses all of our renowned assessments, multimedia assets, e-books, and instructor resources in a powerful new platform.

The 12th edition introduces two new co-authors to the team:

• David Wassarman improved clarity and organization of the molecular genetics content through an extensive revision. mRNA degradation is new to this edition. RNAi and RNA silencing topics have been reorganized and revised for clarity. Genetics techniques in Chapters 10 and 14 have been updated to include CRISPR and next-generation sequencing techniques, among others.
• Catherine Peichel brings a modern evolutionary genetics approach to Chapters 13, 17, and 20. She introduces the use of non-model organisms in evolutionary and developmental genetics research, and how modern genetics techniques allows these studies.
  

Content updates:

• The molecular genetics chapters (7-12) have been heavily revised. As revised, they relate only the fundamental mechanics of molecular genetics, while keeping the experimental basis for how these discoveries were made. In particular, Chapter 8 now tells the life cycle of an RNA, from synthesis to decay, and includes important events such as mRNA editing, nucleotide modification, nuclear export, and decay (all not previously in IGA). Chapter 12 was also reorganized and streamlined to build from the roles of transcription factors in transcriptional regulation to the structure of chromatin and how chromatin modifications and chromatin rearrangement affect transcription in both short-term and long-term situations.
• Genetics techniques updates. Chapter 10 (Gene Isolation and Manipulation) was updated to include more modern molecular genetics techniques, most notably CRISPR/Cas9. The chapter weaves the story of insulin as an example of how a human gene can be isolated and manipulated to allow its large-scale production for use in medicine. Katie updated Chapter 14 Genome and Genomics to include much-needed updates to next-generation sequencing techniques (e.g., Illumina sequencing) and bioinformatics approaches to analyzing human genomes.
• Chapters 13, 17, and 20 have been updated to include more about non-model organisms. Modern genetics and genomics techniques allow the study of non-traditional model organisms, expanding the ability to study unique systems in the most representative organisms. Also new is an addition to the Model Organisms Appendix entitled, “Beyond Model Organisms.”
  

Chapter objectives - New to 12e, each chapter begins with a short (2-sentence paragraph) describing the goals of the chapter and placing the chapter topic into context of the surrounding chapters. This helps students “see the forest” before stepping into the “trees”.

Part introductions (core principles) - New to 12th edition, the three parts of the book (transmission genetics, molecular genetics, and evolutionary genetics) begins with a short (3-5ish page) introduction outlining the core principles that undergird that segment of genetics. These help orient students by providing an overview of the themes they’ll encounter as they read each part.

Study guides - are short outlines of the Learning Objectives from each chapter, aligned with the relevant text, figures, and tables; key terms, key concepts, and EOC questions. Each LO found in the chapter is supported with a list of subtasks, the skills or understanding students should gain when reading the relevant sections of text. Using this study guide as a learning path, students can check that they’ve achieved the stated goals in each section, find gaps in their knowledge, and identify the sections they need to study in order to fill those gaps.