Chapter 3: Handy Gene

This chapter was my favorite so far! Shubin states that what we are getting at in this chapter is the recipe written in our DNA. Randy Dahn, a researcher in Shubin's Laboratory, is on a trail of discovery in which he finds creatures that reflect us upon of broad range through our distant past. Shubin talks about his laboratory split up into two sides: one containing fossils, and the other containing DNAs and embryos. On each sides of the lab he conducts experiments in order to help him learn more and more about the inner fish inside each of whatever he is experimenting. Sadly, when it comes to working with fossils that are from animals of a long time ago, it isn't that easy to do experiments. Although this makes things harder, Shubin finds different ways to discover new things.

What I found interesting in this chapter was finding out that our body is made up of hundreds of different kinds of cells that give each and everyone of us our distinctive shape and function. To know that our body starts off at a single cell and builds up, is something I would've never thought to explore like Shubin does. Every time I read a chapter of this book, I feel like I learn something new about myself.

My favorite part was when Shubin talks about the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) and how it is able to control the formation of fingers and toes by moving little tissues. How intriguing! After reading about ZPA, Randy Dahn plans to experiment with skates to learn more about sharks. He wants to determine the different apparatus and how they build our hands. After a few months, he found a shark Sonic hedgehog gene. It led to show a similarity among us, skates and sharks. In this "inner fish" Randy discovered, his inner fish lays in the logical tools that build fins. The connection from one living creature to another is just amazing as it shows us linking to one another in a way we would've never expected.

-Mitasha Sujan