Electronic Scholarly Publishing: Foundations of Genetics

Robbins, Robert J.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

关键词: Storage;    Genetics;    Training Human Genome Project;    59 Basic Biological Sciences;    Biology;   

DOI  :  10.2172/804568
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  FG03-97ER62368
RP-ID  :  804568

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

As the Human Genome Project (HGP) moves toward its successful completion, more and more people have become interested in understanding this project and its results. Since the HGP has significant ethical, legal, and social implications for all citizens, the number of individuals who do, or should wish to become familiar with the project is high. In addition to its importance in the training of professional geneticists, the HGP is of special relevance for undergraduate training in basic biology, and even for high-school and other K-12 education. Understanding the results of HGP research requires a familiarity with the notions of basic genetics. Unlike other disciplines that evolved over centuries, modern genetics began abruptly with the rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's work in 1900. Within a few years, fundamental concepts were elaborated and the foundations of genetics established. Because genetics developed so rapidly in just a few decades after 1900, the literature of that period constitutes a valuable resource even now. It may be read profitably by students and scientists wishing to understand the foundations of their field, as well as by laymen or historians of science. Unfortunately, the early literature is rapidly becoming almost inaccessible. Newer libraries do not hold older journals and even established libraries are moving their materials from that era into hard-to-reach (and impossible to browse) long-term storage in remote warehouses. To be sure, key studies from the early work are discussed in nearly all textbooks, but a comparison of these presentations with the actual literature shows that most textbook treatments have essentially mythologized the early work so that real understanding is lost. There have been several collections of classic works developed over the years (although none lately), but these suffer from the effects of the necessary, but nonetheless pernicious, highly selective sampling that accompanies these projects. Such selectivity, coupled with introductions that offer essentially modern interpretations of the work, obscure the intellectual rigor and excitement of the original efforts.