Reviews and Notes: Genetics: Mendelian Inheritance in Man: A Catalog of Human Genes and Genetic Disorders

Mendelian Inheritance in Man: A Catalog of Human Genes and Genetic Disorders

11th edition. VA McKusick; ed. 3009 pages. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr; 1994. $165.00. 0-80-184933-00. Order phone 800-537-5487.

The senior editor acknowledges that it has become “difficult for one person to master genetic nosology in every branch of medicine and to maintain an overview of all medical and relevant genetic literature.” The entries in this book extend from the Aarskog syndrome (which includes scrotal shawl and hypertelorism) to the Wolfram Syndrome (associated with deafness and diabetes). This book is now also available on line; new material therein becomes accessible within a few days, whereas the book is published only every 2 years. McKusick's foreword includes a photograph of the 11 editions of this book side by side. The foreword is at the same time an explanation of the book and its on-line version and an exemplar of the difference in dissemination of knowledge that electronic publishing supplies. The book is also available in a CD-ROM version.