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RR 2011/133 The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders (3rd ed.) Edited by Laurie J. Fundukian Gale Detroit, MI 2010 3 vols ISBN 978 1 4144 7602 5 (print); ISBN 9781 4144 7605 6 (e-book) $445 (print)
Keywords Diseases and disorders. Encyclopaedias, Genetics
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121111119022
When I reviewed the second edition of this encyclopaedia, way back in 2005 (RR 2006/268), I noted that "genetics is a very fast-moving subject" and I ended with the expectation and hope that work on the next edition was already underway. This hope has now been fulfilled. Genetics has indeed been changing so fast that practically anything that has reached the stage of being refereed, edited and printed is already out of date. Even while in the process of reviewing this brand-new book, I noticed, just for example, in this morning's newspaper, a report on some research into the genetics of attention deficit disorders in young children which would, if confirmed and replicated, seriously affect the entry on ADHD here.
I have just had the opportunity of surveying the most frequently downloaded papers in the general area of the neurosciences from all the journals produced by one publisher, as part of a piece of navel-gazing by the Journal of Mental Health (Guha, 2010). It was interesting to note that the most frequently downloaded papers each year were from the more scientific and genetically orientated areas of research, but that in every year the papers in heavy demand were published in the same year - the number one hit of 2006 would not even be in the top 30 in 2007. The more clinically orientated and less genetic papers from the Journal of Mental Health never reach very high levels of use in one year but have kept their interest year after year - our number one paper in 2009 was published in 1997 and is still in regular demand a dozen years later. Given such a fast-moving scene, compiling an encyclopaedia and keeping it more or less up to date is a horrendous task. Gale and all the editorial staff involved can be congratulated for trying.
The first edition of this book, 2002, was published at the very height of the enthusiasm for the human genome project. It was assumed...