Jonathan Slack - Genes: A Very Short Introduction

VERY SHORT INTRODUCTIONS are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been translated into more than 40 different languages.

The Series began in 1995, and now covers a wide variety of topics in every discipline. The VSI library now contains over 350 volumesa Very Short Introduction to everything from Psychology and Philosophy of Science to American History and Relativityand continues to grow in every subject area.

Very Short Introductions available now:

ACCOUNTING Christopher Nobes ADVERTISING Winston Fletcher AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGION Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

AFRICAN HISTORY John Parker and Richard Rathbone AFRICAN RELIGIONS Jacob K. Olupona AGNOSTICISM Robin Le Poidevin ALEXANDER THE GREAT Hugh Bowden AMERICAN HISTORY Paul S. Boyer AMERICAN IMMIGRATION David A. Gerber AMERICAN LEGAL HISTORY G. Edward White AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTIONS L. Sandy Maisel AMERICAN POLITICS Richard M. Valelly THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY Charles O. Jones AMERICAN SLAVERY Heather Andrea Williams ANAESTHESIA Aidan ODonnell

ANARCHISM Colin Ward

ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw

ANCIENT GREECE Paul Cartledge THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Amanda H. Podany ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas ANCIENT WARFARE Harry Sidebottom ANGELS David Albert Jones

ANGLICANISM Mark Chapman

THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair THE ANIMAL KINGDOM Peter Holland ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia THE ANTARCTIC Klaus Dodds

ANTISEMITISM Steven Beller

ANXIETY Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS Paul Foster ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn

ARCHITECTURE Andrew Ballantyne ARISTOCRACY William Doyle

ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes

ART HISTORY Dana Arnold

ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland

ASTROBIOLOGY David C. Catling ATHEISM Julian Baggini

AUGUSTINE Henry Chadwick

AUSTRALIA Kenneth Morgan

AUTISM Uta Frith

THE AVANT GARDE David Cottington THE AZTECS Davd Carrasco

BACTERIA Sebastian G. B. Amyes BARTHES Jonathan Culler

THE BEATS David Sterritt

BEAUTY Roger Scruton

BESTSELLERS John Sutherland

THE BIBLE John Riches

BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY Eric H. Cline BIOGRAPHY Hermione Lee

THE BLUES Elijah Wald

THE BOOK OF MORMON Terryl Givens BORDERS Alexander C. Diener and Joshua Hagen THE BRAIN Michael OShea

THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION Martin Loughlin THE BRITISH EMPIRE Ashley Jackson BRITISH POLITICS Anthony Wright BUDDHA Michael Carrithers

BUDDHISM Damien Keown

BUDDHIST ETHICS Damien Keown CANCER Nicholas James

CAPITALISM James Fulcher

CATHOLICISM Gerald OCollins CAUSATION Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum THE CELL Terence Allen and Graham Cowling THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe

CHAOS Leonard Smith

CHILDRENS LITERATURE Kimberley Reynolds CHINESE LITERATURE Sabina Knight CHOICE THEORY Michael Allingham CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson CHRISTIAN ETHICS D. Stephen Long CHRISTIANITY Linda Woodhead

CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy

CIVIL ENGINEERING David Muir Wood CLASSICAL LITERATURE William Allan CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY Helen Morales CLASSICS Mary Beard and John Henderson CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard

CLIMATE Mark Maslin

THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon

COLONIAL AMERICA Alan Taylor COLONIAL LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE Rolena Adorno COMEDY Matthew Bevis

COMMUNISM Leslie Holmes

COMPLEXITY John H. Holland

THE COMPUTER Darrel Ince

CONFUCIANISM Daniel K. Gardner THE CONQUISTADORS Matthew Restall and Felipe Fernndez-Armesto CONSCIENCE Paul Strohm

CONSCIOUSNESS Susan Blackmore CONTEMPORARY ART Julian Stallabrass CONTEMPORARY FICTION Robert Eaglestone CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY Simon Critchley CORAL REEFS Charles Sheppard COSMOLOGY Peter Coles

CRITICAL THEORY Stephen Eric Bronner THE CRUSADES Christopher Tyerman CRYPTOGRAPHY Fred Piper and Sean Murphy THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION Richard Curt Kraus DADA AND SURREALISM David Hopkins DARWIN Jonathan Howard

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Timothy Lim DEMOCRACY Bernard Crick

DERRIDA Simon Glendinning

DESCARTES Tom Sorell

DESERTS Nick Middleton

DESIGN John Heskett

DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY Lewis Wolpert THE DEVIL Darren Oldridge

DIASPORA Kevin Kenny

DICTIONARIES Lynda Mugglestone DINOSAURS David Norman

DIPLOMACY Joseph M. Siracusa DOCUMENTARY FILM Patricia Aufderheide DREAMING J. Allan Hobson

DRUGS Leslie Iversen

DRUIDS Barry Cunliffe

EARLY MUSIC Thomas Forrest Kelly THE EARTH Martin Redfern

ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta

EDUCATION Gary Thomas

EGYPTIAN MYTH Geraldine Pinch EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Paul Langford THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball

EMOTION Dylan Evans

EMPIRE Stephen Howe

ENGELS Terrell Carver

ENGINEERING David Blockley

ENGLISH LITERATURE Jonathan Bate ENTREPRENEURSHIP Paul Westhead and Mike Wright ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS Stephen Smith EPIDEMIOLOGY Rodolfo Saracci ETHICS Simon Blackburn

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY Timothy Rice THE ETRUSCANS Christopher Smith THE EUROPEAN UNION John Pinder and Simon Usherwood EVOLUTION Brian and Deborah Charlesworth EXISTENTIALISM Thomas Flynn

THE EYE Michael Land

FAMILY LAW Jonathan Herring

FASCISM Kevin Passmore

FASHION Rebecca Arnold

FEMINISM Margaret Walters

FILM Michael Wood

FILM MUSIC Kathryn Kalinak

THE FIRST WORLD WAR Michael Howard FOLK MUSIC Mark Slobin

FOOD John Krebs

FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY David Canter FORENSIC SCIENCE Jim Fraser

FOSSILS Keith Thomson

FOUCAULT Gary Gutting

FRACTALS Kenneth Falconer

FREE SPEECH Nigel Warburton

FREE WILL Thomas Pink

FRENCH LITERATURE John D. Lyons THE FRENCH REVOLUTION William Doyle FREUD Anthony Storr

FUNDAMENTALISM Malise Ruthven GALAXIES John Gribbin

GALILEO Stillman Drake

GAME THEORY Ken Binmore

GANDHI Bhikhu Parekh

GENES Jonathan Slack

GENIUS Andrew Robinson

GEOGRAPHY John Matthews and David Herbert GEOPOLITICS Klaus Dodds

GERMAN LITERATURE Nicholas Boyle GERMAN PHILOSOPHY Andrew Bowie GLOBAL CATASTROPHES Bill McGuire GLOBAL ECONOMIC HISTORY Robert C. Allen GLOBAL WARMING Mark Maslin

GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger GOD John Bowker

THE GOTHIC Nick Groom

GOVERNANCE Mark Bevir

THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE NEW DEAL Eric Rauchway HABERMAS James Gordon Finlayson HAPPINESS Daniel M. Haybron

HEGEL Peter Singer

HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood

HERODOTUS Jennifer T. Roberts HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson

HINDUISM Kim Knott

HISTORY John H. Arnold

THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin THE HISTORY OF LIFE Michael Benton THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS Jacqueline Stedall THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE William Bynum THE HISTORY OF TIME Leofranc Holford-Strevens HIV/AIDS Alan Whiteside

HOBBES Richard Tuck

HORMONES Martin Luck

HUMAN EVOLUTION Bernard Wood HUMAN RIGHTS Andrew Clapham

HUMANISM Stephen Law

HUME A. J. Ayer

HUMOUR Nol Carroll

THE ICE AGE Jamie Woodward

IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden

INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Sue Hamilton INFORMATION Luciano Floridi

INNOVATION Mark Dodgson and David Gann INTELLIGENCE Ian J. Deary

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION Khalid Koser INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Paul Wilkinson INTERNATIONAL SECURITY Christopher S. Browning ISLAM Malise Ruthven

ISLAMIC HISTORY Adam Silverstein ITALIAN LITERATURE Peter Hainsworth and David Robey JESUS Richard Bauckham

JOURNALISM Ian Hargreaves

JUDAISM Norman Solomon

JUNG Anthony Stevens

KABBALAH Joseph Dan

KAFKA Ritchie Robertson

KANT Roger Scruton

KEYNES Robert Skidelsky

KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner THE KORAN Michael Cook