The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson Whoa - I read this play to prep for an upcoming audition for this show at YP - and my god is it dark. While I found all the characters incredibly interesting and deep, it was hard not to get a really erie feeling from the play’s dark tone. Reading some of the initial monologues the character of Leah has, I thought I had a sense of what she was like, but by the end my mind had completely changed. Same with the character of Phil.

Climax: After painstakingly covering up their accidental murder of their schoolmate Adam, a group of London youths discover a boy who very well may be Adam living in a hedge near the spot where they left him for dead. In a world where people with a rare gene are kidnapped for their blood's wonder-cure abilities, an LAPD officer fighting the activities of illegal blood farms is pitted against a madman who has modified healing blood to unstoppable levels. Vague descriptions of a murder incident by teenagers that allow lots of imagination and filling in the blank by yourself. The DNA double helix. (A) A space-filling model of 1.5 turns of the DNA double helix. Each turn of DNA is made up of 10.4 nucleotide pairs and the center-to-center distance between adjacent nucleotide pairs is 3.4 nm. The coiling of the two strands around (more...)

DNA presents the issue that characters acting as a group demolishes the restrictions a person acting individually would usually impose on themselves. Resulting, is the person’s susceptibility to conformist groupthink. An example of this in the story is Mark and Jan’s retelling of the incident that lead to Adam’s presumed demise. Their repeated use of “we” implies that they were intoxicated with the power and freedom of consequence they felt, in acting as a group, “We’re having a laugh thinking what’s this nutter going to do next, we can make him do, we can make him do…”. After learning of Adam’s death, however, their fear of facing repercussions that mirror the intimidation and abuse they themselves executed on Adam, is revealed by their willingness to cover up the murder. This fear acts as proof to show that the bullies do have the ability to sympathize with Adam. Yet despite knowing of their wrongdoing, they continued to harass him. Why? Renowned evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner presents the missing piece in Darwin's theory. Using cutting-edge experimental and computational… It's one of those dreadful plays written about teenagers, for teenagers which has a glaringly obvious moral. I found the dialogue clumsy, the characters one dimensional and the plot uninspiring.

The New York Museum of Natural History is built over a subterranean labyrinth of neglected specimen vaults, unmapped drainage tunnels and long-forgotten catacombs. A Best Book of the YearSeed Magazine • Granta Magazine • The Plain-DealerIn this fascinating and utterly engaging book, Carl Zimmer traces E. coli's pivotal role in the history of biology, from the discovery of DNA to the latest advances in biotechnology. He reveals the many surprising and alarming parallels between E. coli's life and our own. And he describes how E. coli changes in real time, revealing billions of years of history encoded within its genome. E. coli is also the most engineered species on Earth, and as scientists retool this microbe to produce life-saving drugs and clean fuel,… Lou has no complicated speeches but instead speaks using simple sentences or short phrases. Phrases such as ‘We’re screwed’ (p34) make her appear young/ not assertive and relies on being given instruction. She also appears to believe the lies the group have created (p35)Sarcasm (p36) - Leah can’t believe they have found a man that fits their fake description. Richard: " Why don’t you pop down the station and say, ‘excuse me, but the fat postman with the bad teeth doesn’t actually exist, so why don’t you let him go." To get a great answer, you need to ask the perfect question. Warren Berger revives the lost art of questioning. A portrait of the Nobel Prize-winning scientist explores the impact of James Watson's The Double Helix on her career and how her team's invention of CRISPR technology enabled revolutionary DNA-editing approaches to fighting disease. I’m a Canadian science fiction writer who writes very, very slowly. I’m interested in experimental fiction and books that are unique, both thematically and stylistically. I’d like to think my books fall into this category, or at least that’s what I aspire to. I used to read science fiction exclusively, and the five books I’ve listed here were all read during those formative years; they were fundamental stepping-stones for me, as a writer, and each of them left a profound mark on my idea of how good, or effective, novels can be.

I read this with a group of friends about a week ago. No. We all thought it was terrible. :-( I will try and forget it exists. Jan is Mark’s close friend and constant companion. Mark and Jan’s vague, gossipy conversations act as preludes during each part of the play, opening the action in a disorienting and intriguing way. Jan and… What is Life? Decades of research have resulted in the full mapping of the human genome - three billion pairs of code whose functions are only now being understood. The gene's eye view of life, advocated by evolutionary biology, sees living bodies as mere vehicles for the replication of the genetic codes.At first glance, the verbose Leah is ditzy, easily distracted, and self-obsessed. During her many afternoons sitting in a field with her silent boyfriend Phil, Leah muses aloud about big questions (such as the… I actually really liked this. Despite how disturbing it is in quite a few places, it has a great moral story and when you look into it in greater depth and really try to read between the lines and see the greater meaning behind the words, it is really striking and powerful. Richard: " Cathy doesn’t care. She’s too busy running things…She’s insane. She cut off a first year’s finger, that’s what they say anyway." Richard first appears to be a strong character and potentially someone who is able to be a leader of the group. Lou is scared of him and he presents a challenge to John Tate’s leadership. Although he stands up to John Tate ( You shouldn’t threaten me John’ p17), he is eventually put in his place when John Tate turns the entire group against Richard by telling them to choose sides. (Act 1 Scene 3). Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.