I really like the process that Shubin describes how to actually separate DNA in your own kitchen. I've always felt that laboratory science was so hard to duplicate; reading this made me feel like part of science. If I have time this week, I'm definitely going to try this out.
As Shubin described the process of smelling, I felt really involved in it (having just finished a delicious lunch). Just a single tiny molecule of an organism that finds its way up your nose and into your brain can trigger your sense of smell. I find that amazing. It is astounding to discover that 3% of all of our genes is devoted ONLY to smell. As mentioned, "the smell of tasty food gets us hungry; the smell of sewage makes us feel ill" (Shubin 140).
It's interesting how Shubin says that humans have given up their sense of smell for their sight. Now that I think about it, it's probably true. An example would be dogs: while their sense of sight is nearly colorblind, they have an amazing sense of smell.
~Megan Hsiao
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