Having trouble deciphering your genetic code? Do dominant genes make you feel recessive? Let reigning nonfiction cartoonist Larry Gonick and microbiologist Mark Wheelis ease your way through Mendelian genetics, molecular biology, and the basics of genetic engineering. Gonick’s drawings range from a moderately detailed look at ribosomes in action to loony pictures of dancing scientists, talking peas, and opinionated fruit flies. Matthew Meselson, co-discoverer of the “one gene-one protein” principle, says, “it puts textbooks to shame”–and he’s right. –Mary Ellen Curtin

About the Author
Larry Gonick is the creator of the bestselling Cartoon Guide series, comprised of nine books that have sold more than half a million copies and been translated into more than a dozen languages. Currently staff cartoonist for Muse magazine, he has also been a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.