DNA: School Edition (Oberon Modern Plays)

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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. Richard can be very negative and grumbles when given instructions by the leader. It could be argued that this is why he does not progress in the social hierarchy and Cathy does. Phil instructs Richard to take Brian to the police station but has to repeat his instructions to him (p41) Leah is a moral character and tries to reason with many of the characters. She is sensible and able to think for herself and speak her mind. However, she still falls under the leadership of Phil as she is not strong enough to alter the opinions and actions of anyone in the group. They all think that he’s dead, and go about making a plan to hide what they’ve done. Their plan goes slightly wrong when they frame an innocent postman for ‘kidnapping’ Adam. Brian, a member of their group, refuses to go to the police station and confirm that he saw the man alone with Adam. However, he ends up going because Phil threatens to throw him down the grate to ‘rot together’ with Adam. John Tate to Danny: " you’re on you’re own side, which is, well, to be honest, very silly and dangerous"

He cannot deal with his guilt and is prescribed medication to help him cope. He is seen to revert to a childlike state of ‘play’ by Act 3 Scene 3 as his way of dealing with the events. By Act 3 Scene 3 Cathy is ‘second in command’ as she is charged with killing Adam. A conversation takes place between her and Phil and despite Leah’s attempts to be heard, she is ignored by them both (p58) Adam wants to be part of the group and Mark and Jan see exactly what he will do to be part of their gang: Scene 1: Mark and Jan discuss that someone is ‘dead’ and this throws the audience into the middle of the action.Mark :" … so we were sort of, well, alright, taking the piss, sort of. You know what he’s like he was, sort of hanging around" When Adam actually appears in Act 3 Scene 3 (p49) we find out he has been living in a hedge. He has suffered a head injury and this is evidently still affecting him as his memory is weak and his speech is confused and staggered (p53) The nucleotide sequence of the human β-globin gene. This gene carries the information for the amino acid sequence of one of the two types of subunits of the hemoglobin molecule, which carries oxygen in the blood. A different gene, the α-globin (more...)

A group of teenagers are bullying a boy at their school called Adam. They force him to do things he doesn’t want to do (like running across the motorway, letting them punch him, and eating leaves and dirt). One day their bullying goes to far, and while walking across a gate over a mine shaft whilst being pummeled with stones, Adam falls. Everyone has heard of DNA. But by itself, DNA is just an inert blueprint for life. It is the ribosome—an enormous molecular machine made up of a million atoms—that makes DNA come to life, turning our genetic code into proteins and therefore into us. This book is an insider account of the race for the structure of the ribosome, a fundamental discovery that both advances our knowledge of all life and could lead to the development of better antibiotics against life-threatening diseases. The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson Although on stage in many scenes, Phil rarely speaks. Usually his action involves eating (ice-cream/Starburst/waffles, etc.). Although quiet for a long time, Phil clearly considers everyone’s words and actions before he speaks. He gives calm and considered instructions to each member of the group as he assigns roles and tasks for them to complete. This makes him appear callous and nihilistic. A key quote that justifies his actions:

Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition.

An exploration of human DNA and the stories it can tell describes how genes can explain why JFK's skin was bronze, Einstein was a genius, and why people with exceptional thumb flexibility can become world-class violinists. Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future. One in a Billion by Mark Johnson and Kathleen Gallagher

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?Lou will follow whoever the leader is at the time. She is a ‘yes’ woman and will do as she is told. She is controlled by fear (see Act 1 Scene 3). She is afraid of John Tate but also of ‘ Richard, maybe’ (p13). This causes John Tate to panic and ultimately results in John Tate and Richard’s confrontation. Lou (possibly inadvertently) has planted the seed in John Tate’s mind that he is not seen as a leader which results in the struggle for power between him and Richard. Ultimately, their conflict ends with John Tate re-gaining power through threats and fear. Scene 3: Adam is alive and has been living in a hedge. He has survived by living off dead animals. He has clearly sustained a head injury. Phil instructs Jan, Mark and Lou to leave and not say anything. He shows Cathy how to kill Adam by tying a plastic bag around Brian’s head (who is by not on medication and is clearly losing his mind). Leah begs him not to do this.

Leah: " It’s Adam, Phil, Adam! We used to go to his birthday parties, he used to have that cheap ice cream and we used to take the piss, remember?" (p58) 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." By the end of the play we learn that Cathy is now in charge and appears to have a sadistic nature. Phil has left the group so she assumes the leader role she seems to have been craving.

We get the impression that Mark and Jan might also be younger members of the group/ less able to assert themselves. They look to Phil for reassurance and take instructions from him. (p57) Cathy appears to have a callous side when she obtains DNA evidence from an actual postman who fits the description Phil made up. Did she do this because she is a social climber who is trying to impress the leader, or did she genuinely not realise what she has done? (p38) Dialogue: I like the vagueness of Jan and Mark's dialogues appearing at the beginning of every part. The cross-cutting will be fun to perform, though difficult. Genes carry biological information that must be copied accurately for transmission to the next generation each time a cell divides to form two daughter cells. Two central biological questions arise from these requirements: how can the information for specifying an organism be carried in chemical form, and how is it accurately copied? The discovery of the structure of the DNA double helix was a landmark in twentieth-century biology because it immediately suggested answers to both questions, thereby resolving at the molecular level the problem of heredity. We discuss briefly the answers to these questions in this section, and we shall examine them in more detail in subsequent chapters. In Richard’s final commentary to Phil on what the members of the group are now up to, we find out that Lou is best friends with Cathy.