Genetics 101

Our genome isn’t just one string of DNA; it’s actually split into pieces called chromosomes.

James Watson and Francis Crick built on her work to deduce that the DNA molecule had the shape of a double helix

DNA is a long, stringy molecule whose job is to carry information.

1950s, Rosalind Franklin managed to form DNA into a crystal and take an x-ray photograph that revealed its structure.

Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, it is nature, rather than human judgment, that determines which creatures live long enough to have offspring.

Charles Darwin figured out that species evolve over time

In the 1800s, a monk named Gregor Mendel figured out that traits of pea plants—like whether peas were yellow or green—were passed down from parent to child