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Biology will relate every human gene to the genes of other animals and bacteria, to this great chain of being.

Today we try to identify a gene and then study its properties.

Genes are like the story, and DNA is the language that the story is written in.

Genetics is about how information is stored and transmitted between generations.

We know that genes shape human cultures and human societies: The DNA we inherited from our ancestors makes certain foods taste better, affects the way we care for children, influences what colors we find vibrant, and contributes to our love of socializing, among other examples.

I'm fascinated by the idea that genetics is digital. A gene is a long sequence of coded letters, like computer information. Modern biology is becoming very much a branch of information technology.

It's a very complex network of genes making products which go into the nucleus and turn on other genes. And, in fact, you find a continuing network of processes going on in a very complex way by which genes are subject to these continual adjustments, as you might say - the computer programmer deciding which genes ultimately will work.

We know specific genes are turned on in specific cells, but we don't know to what extent this happens.

Biology - DNA - is technology. It is coding. It is physical coding, but still code.

One of the things that got me interested in genetics was the relationship between genes and environment. We are all dealt a certain deck of cards, but our environment can influence the outcomes.