Science Quest: Double Helix: The Quest to Uncover the Structure of DNA

by Glen Phelan

Trace the quest to solve the scientific riddle of how human traits are passed down from one generation to the next in this new book from National Geographic.

The story begins in 1856, when the scientist and monk Gregor Mendel begins experiments on pea plants, not knowing that he was about to unlock the first secrets of genetics and change our understanding of heredity forever.

Double Helix follows the path to understanding the mysteries of DNA—a twisting quest that will draw young readers into the stories of scientists like Crick and Watson and reveal the discovery's strange connection to the atomic bomb. Author Glen Phelan's accessible text will help readers understand how complex genetic codes distinguish every single individual on Earth. The book also explores the vast range of applications for this landmark biological discovery in areas such as medicine, law, and historical research.

National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

Genres: Science

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[HyVee]

I have finished this book. It is another one about science.

1. When I saw the title of this book, I reminisced about the lesson which I learned in my reading class. That lesson is "The Science of Genetics" which about the structure of DNA. Both of them tell about how the scientists discovered the structure of DNA and absolutely, they mention the greatest scientist in biology field - Gregor Mendel. As everyone knew, Gregor Mendel was the father of modern genetics and with his experiments on pea plants, he proved that the characteristics that are dominant will come out in the first generation and are recessive will only appear in the second generation. Moreover, they also explain what the gene is. Those are similar things from two these books. However,in this book, the author specially notice two pairs of scientists are Francis Crick and James Watson who had figured out the structure of DNA. In the other hand, the lesson that I learned in my reading book mention more about genetics. These are the different things from two books. Absolutely, this book is very helpful in our life because it helps us learn more about genetic and of course, everyone get married and have children and then children inherit characteristics from their parents.

2. If I could change the life of a story character, I would change the life of Rosalind Franklin. Because she died of cancer when she just was 37 years old. She was a talent and willing woman, she decided to become a scientist when she was 15 years old. At that time, a woman studied in science field was very rarely. People recognized and respected scientists who were men, they did not support women who studied in science. But, Franklin did not care about that, she still decided to study in chemistry and became a scientist. Unfortunately, she died at very young age - 37 years old. Cancer carried her life off. That is why I would like change her life because she was a talent woman.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay for the school library.