Blueprints

Six who helped lay the groundwork; The Voyage of the Beagle. First suspicions about change. Years of lonely labour; A shock from the Spice Islands. The shocker: Alfred Russel Wallace; The Origin is published. The reaction; Gregor Mendel. The problem of blending explained: traits endure; Hugo de Vries. The source of variation found: mutations occur. Mendel is vindicated; The role of the chromosome; Friedrich Miescher: What are chromosomes made of? Answer: DNA is the transforming agent; James Watson and Francis Crick: How is DNA put together?; Question for Crick: What does the code say? How is it read? Is RNA involved?; The dual nature of DNA; The triplet code and the ribosome. Crick enunciates the central dogma; Stanley L. Miller and Manfred Eigen: a look from the bottom up; Carl R. Woese: A look from the top down; What old bones have to say about human evolution. What molecules have to say; Is there danger in being too smart?