Chapter 6

I believe that this chapter should have followed the "Handy Genes" chapter for it basically revolves around genes and what their capabilities are. From these genes that we see in every living organism, the body plans are laid out. Genes carry the "blueprints" for the major construction: humans and every other creatures. What I found interesting was that Shubin even went down lower in the family tree of species and compared humans to jellyfish. The cousins of this creature, the sea anemones, also have a back as humans do. But that is not the fascinating part. The fascinating part is that the genes are the same in humans as in anemones. It is just that these genes were set to do different task, varying on each creature. The entire body plan is created even before humans bear a child. They start off from a single cell. A single cell with the blueprint for an entire body, is just simply amazing.