Discovering Life’s Story: The Birth of Genetics

Discovering Life’s Story #3

by Joy Hakim

Can we crack the code to life itself? In the third volume in the Discovering Life’s Story series, scientists compete to decipher the genetic blueprint behind all life on earth.

It’s the dawn of the twentieth century. Darwin has theorized that traits get passed down through generations, and Mendel has come up with a mathematical formula that predicts how traits reappear over time. But a key mystery remains: is there a recipe for living beings? If there is, where is it hidden? With the help of powerful new microscopes and x-rays, scientists peer ever closer into cells, searching for answers. They find chromosomes, tight coils of DNA, mutations that introduce new variations in species, and proteins that dictate how living things function. Walter Sutton observes that chromosomes come in pairs. Nettie Stevens discovers the X and Y chromosomes that define biological gender. And Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Francis Crick compete to be the first to understand DNA’s structure. But is it proteins or DNA that carry the secrets to life’s blueprint?

In Birth of Genetics, Joy Hakim, author of the best-selling series A History of US, continues charting the path of human discovery as scientists race to unravel our genes and the mysteries they hold.

196 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2026

About the author

I've just updated A HISTORY OF US to include some new stories, especially those on people who haven't had their full story told, like Native Americans and African Americans. I've been astounded by some of what I've learned, I think you will be too.


My husband and I live most of the year in Colorado. I grew up in Rutland, Vermont and graduated from Rutland High School. I earned a bachelor's degree in government at Smith College, a master's degree in education from Goucher College, as well as an honorary doctorate from Goucher.

I've been a teacher: in Syracuse, New York; Omaha, Nebraska; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. And I've taught in elementary school, middle school, high school, and in a community college.

I've also been a newspaper woman: a general reporter, a business reporter, and an associate editor and editorial writer at Norfolk's Virginian-Pilot.

We have three children and five grandchildren.

from: http://www.joyhakim.com/biography.html