Our fourth book published in English is What Is DNA? A Biology Adventure.

The students started out with the simple goal of understanding as much as they possibly could about genetics and DNA. As was the case when they researched mathematics and quantum mechanics, however, they also wanted to understand how they understand. This involved quite a bit of discussion about the role of language in the learning process and the relation of language and genetics. The students considered mathematics and the natural sciences to be languages (albeit more precise than our everyday language) that describe natural phenomena. Therefore, even though many TCL students remembered little from high school biology, they were not afraid to face genetics.

Their learning process began by reading Molecular Biology of the Gene, 4th Edition by James Watson and Nancy Hopkins et al. Many discussions followed. One, involving a guest professor from Waseda University and the TCL students, was about the make-up of cells and the relation of this composition to the aging process. They talked about different types of organisms and the optimum conditions for their reproduction and survival.

The students discussed how the process of the development of living things (for example, from a single cell to a human being) seems to be similar to the process of acquiring language in a natural learning environment. They feel that the main purpose of biology should not be to discover what cells (or living things) are, but how they were created and how they have evolved over hundreds of millions of years.

What Is DNA? A Biology Adventure is now available in both Japanese and English.

Want to take a look at What Is DNA? for yourself? Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com typically carry our books, or you can special order it from your favorite bookstore!