Genetics, Agriculture, and Biotechnology

Reviewed by Jessica Baggerman, Assistant Professor of Agriculture, Huntington University on 6/20/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

While this text covers a large majority of genetics related to plants/agronomy, there is no information about genetics in animals/livestock. While the book description covers this, the title is misleading. While there is no index, the table of contents is sufficient to find the necessary information. As it is offered in a PDF format, using the "find in text" function can serve as a index.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text provides an accurate description of plant genetics in relation to production agriculture.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

While the major information will be durably relevant, the examples and video links will likely need updated over time.

Clarity rating: 4

Some contexts and terms are used without any explanation for students; however, the general concepts are explained in a way that can be comprehended without much difficulty.

Consistency rating: 3

As each chapter is written by different authors, there is a lack of consistency in how the chapters are set up. The terminology is consistent throughout the text.

Modularity rating: 4

The chapters are set up in a way that most can be read in portions, but not all are due to the lack of consistency of framework throughout the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The information is mainly in a logical order, but some of the chapters could be placed together (ie: chapters 4 and 11) to make a section on biotechnology and laboratory procedures.

Interface rating: 3

In the ePub version, images/figures occasionally overlap text, and the links are not functional. The interface is ideal in the PDF format.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors were noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No cultural insensitivities were noted. Further examples than the usual US crops/genes could be used to make it more applicable for more situations.