Written by 30 authors from all over the world, this book provides a unique overview of exciting discoveries and surprising developments in human genetics over the last 50 years. The individual contributions, based on seven international workshops on the history of human genetics, cover a diverse range of topics, including the early years of the discipline, gene mapping and diagnostics. Further, they discuss the status quo of human genetics in different countries and highlight the value of genetic counseling as an important subfield of medical genetics.

Written by 30 authors from all over the world, this book provides a unique overview of exciting discoveries and surprising developments in human genetics over the last 50 years. The individual contributions, based on seven international workshops on the history of human genetics, cover a diverse range of topics, including the early years of the discipline, gene mapping and diagnostics. Further, they discuss the status quo of human genetics in different countries and highlight the value of genetic counseling as an important subfield of medical genetics.

An eminent geneticist, veteran author, OMMG Series Editor, and noted archivist, Peter Harper presents a lively account of how our ideas and knowledge about human genetics have developed over the past century from the perspective of someone inside the field with a deep interest in its historical aspects. Dr. Harper has researched the history of genetics and has had personal contact with a host of key figures whose memories and experiences extend back 50 years, and he has interviewed and recorded conversations with many of these important geneticists. Thus, rather than being a conventional history, this book transmits the essence of the ideas and the people involved and how they interacted in advancing- and sometimes retarding- the field. From the origins of human genetics; through the contributions of Darwin, Mendel, and other giants; the identification of the first human chromosome abnormalities; and up through the completion of the Human Genome project, this Short History is written in the author's characteristic clear and personal style, which appeals to geneticists and to all those interested in the story of human genetics.

Das fur den Praktiker geschriebene Handbuch umreisst in einem I. Teil die allgemeinen genetischen Aspekte der humangenetischen Beratung. Der II. Teil wendet sich den einzelnen Organsystemen des menschlichen Koerpers zu, wobei nicht nur die dort auftretenden Erbkrankheiten behandelt, sondern auch ihre Relevanz fur das allgemeine Krankheitsgeschehen und die Moeglichkeiten ihrer Prophylaxe dargestellt werden. In einem abschliessenden Abschnitt wird die Bedeutung der humangenetischen Beratung fur das allgemeine Gesundheitsgeschehen umrissen. Die Besonderheiten des Buches liegen in der ausfuhrlichen Darstellung der heute bekannten erbbedingten Anomalien der menschlichen Organsysteme, ihrer populationsgenetischen Haufigkeiten sowie der Hilfestellung fur die AErzte in den Beratungsstellen. Die UEbersetzung aus der 2. Auflage des HARPER ins Deutsche berucksichtigt die in der Zwischenzeit gewachsenen Erkenntnisse, die von den Bearbeitern eingebaut worden sind.