The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA - Tapa blanda

"In the battle against scientific ignorance, graphic novels may be the only thing that can save us . . . What's the solution to America's crisis in science education? More comic books. In December comes "The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA," a remarkably thorough explanation of the science of genetics, from Mendel to Venter, with a strand of social urgency spliced in." --Barry Harbaugh, "Wired" ""The Stuff of Life" is a beautifully written and lavishly illustrated example of the power of comics to communicate the wonders of the natural world. Mark Schultz's words combine with Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon's pictures in a dynamic enzymatic reaction that gives readers a glimpse at how life works. Ambitious, expansive, and completely successful, the story in "The Stuff of Life" starts on the invisible rungs of DNA and climbs without a misstep across the millennia of organic evolution. With the help of Bloort, an alien exploring the wonders of earthly genetics, we get to see our evolutionary and genetic heritage in a new light. Often funny and always engrossing, "The Stuff of Life" provides an exciting point of entry for anyone interested in how life on earth shapes and reshapes itself in the face of ever-changing conditions. Learning genetics just got a whole lot more fun." --Jay Hosler, Associate Professor of Biology at Juniata College and author and illustrator of "Clan Apis "and" The Sandwalk Adventures" "Mark Schultz's brilliant, whacky "The Stuff of Life" could hardly have arrived at a better time, with advances in genetics transforming the biological sciences--from microbiology to medicine. This is serious fun." --Jessica Snyder Sachs, author of "Good Germs, BadGerms: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World""" "Drawn with panache and great good humor by Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon, and scripted with exceptional clarity by Schultz, this is pretty much the best educational graphic novel in Hill and Wang's new line of them, good enough for interested nonscientists to keep handy for whenever they need a refresher on its subject. It even has a happy--well, promising--ending." --Ray Olson, "Booklist"

Let's face it: from adenines to zygotes, from cytokinesis to parthenogenesis, even the basics of genetics can sound utterly alien. Consequently, who better than an alien to explain it all? Enter Bloort 183, an asexual scientist on a dying planet charged with researching the fundamentals of human DNA and evolution and boiling it all down into clear, simple language so that even his slow-to-grasp-the-point leader can get it. In the hands of multiple-award winning graphic novel author Mark Schultz, Bloort's predicament becomes the means of giving even the most science-phobic reader a complete introduction to the history and science of genetics. Ninety percent of "The Stuff of Life" is the basic information of genetics and DNA, with Schultz's aliens stepping in only at those points where the reader will welcome someone saying, 'Hold up a moment; could you go over that last part again?' In conjunction with the absolutely stunning illustrations of the award winning comic artists Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon, the complex is made clear and even the most alien concept behind the genetic basis of human evolution is rendered understandable. Complete with a glossary and suggested reading, "The Stuff of Life" is the high-school-level introduction to the most basic facts of genetics, evolution, and life as we know it for anyone and everyone.