A Richly Engaging Review, History, and Prospective on Mobile DNA
Haig Kazazian reviews our current scientific understanding of mobile DNA and its role in the evolution and function of genomes and organisms, offering an in-depth portrait of the developing perspectives and research strategies pursued by the workers in his own laboratory. He presents an engaging history of the field, showing how advances have presented unexpected new questions, and how new tools and techniques have promoted further progress. Coverage includes: multiple types of mobile DNA; retrotransposition and other key concepts; important mobile DNA research advances in the human genome, mammals, and plants; mobile DNA’s role in increasing genome plasticity and diversity; and the roles of leading scientists in moving mobile DNA research forward. Kazazian concludes with informed reflections on the possible biological roles of mobile DNA, and his own current best guesses about how a number of the leading questions currently under active investigation will likely be answered.
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
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This is a very thorough and up-to-date review of the current knowledge regarding mobile DNA, or "jumping genes". Mobile DNA was first discovered in 1950 by Barbara McClintock, who was initially greeted with skepticism but eventually was rewarded with the Nobel Prize for her work in this area. The various types of mobile DNA make up a substantial percentage of the total genome of many life forms, but their role in evolution and whether they influence fitness under natural selection is still unclear.
The author is a true expert in his field. He exhaustively covers the topic, perhaps too exhaustively. I found myself initially intrigued by the first few chapters, which present a nice overview of mobile DNA and the major unanswered questions in the field, but then I became progressively less interested as subsequent chapters covered increasingly specialized "niche" aspects, most of no apparent relevance to anything beyond the molecular biology of mobile DNA itself. The author tried to enhance the interest of these chapters by tying the work described with the people doing the work, but for the most part this was limited to thumbnail sketches. I'm sure many of these people are interesting in their own right, but you'd never know it from this book!
I found myself wondering what the target audience of this book is. The first few chapters appear to be targeting a general readership with limited background in molecular biology and genetics, by including a brief overview of the chemistry of nucleic acids, and a glossary of relevant terms in the back. But I suspect this will be insufficient for many readers. Many technical terms are used without any attempt at definition or inclusion in the glossary. Subsequent chapters seem to abandon any attempt to stay on the level of the general reader, and would likely be of interest only to specialists in the field or readers with a lot of background and interest in molecular biology and genetics. If this book wants to appeal more to the general reader, I would suggest expanding the glossary and adding a short Appendix summarizing the main aspects of the molecular biology of the gene.
The last few chapters are a nice summary of key unanswered questions and future trends in mobile DNA research, and the author's predictions about what future investigations might reveal.
