briefcase. She walked directly to the
wing, but then stopped in her tracks.
“ Oh, you’ve got to be
kidding me,” she moaned out loud.
The wing’s doors were locked, and there was
a sign which read: WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE BUT THE
NATURAL SCIENCE WING IS CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS. THE WING WILL
REOPEN IN TWO WEEKS.
Terri couldn’t believe her luck—it just got
worse and worse, didn’t it?
I can’t wait two
weeks! she thought. She had to find these
things out now. Mumbling to herself, she walked back to the
check-out desk. Maybe Mr. Seymour could help her.
“ Excuse me, Mr. Seymour,”
she asked. “But I need to know about these words, and the Natural
Science wing is closed.”
Mr. Seymour was sort of
tubby, and he was always reading poetry books behind the desk. He
was nice to all the town kids, and he always went out of his way to
help people out with their school assignments or whatever they
needed to look up. He wore glasses and had long brown hair in front
that sometimes hung in his eyes. “Yeah, I’m afraid so, Terri,” he
said. “Each year we have one section of the library repainted and
recarpeted, and this year, the Natural Science section was on the
list. They always do it late in the summer because that’s when we
have the fewest people in.” He leaned over the desk, pushed his
glasses up on his nose, and took the piece of paper from her.
“Hmmm, what have we got here?” he said and began reading the words
on the paper. His forehead seemed to crunch up as he read. Then he
said, “Well, these are some mighty sophisticated words for a
twelve-year-old. Do you know what genetics are?”
“ Not really,” Terri
answered. “Just that it has something to do with genes, and all
living cells have these things in them called genes.”
“ Right,” Mr. Seymour
agreed. “Genes are like little codes in our cells which give us the
special traits that make each person different. And animals and
plants too. For instance, a tomato has different genes than a
banana, and you have different genes from me.”
“ Because you’re a man and
I’m a girl?” Terri figured.
“ Exactly, and because of
lots of other things too. Like because you have blue eyes and I
have brown, and I wear glasses and you don’t. And today there’s a
special science called genetics , which involves changing the
way genes are arranged in living cells.”
“ Changing,” Terri said,
“like that one word there, mutation. That means change, doesn’t
it?”
“ Right again,” Mr. Seymour
said. “And this word here, transmission, refers to how this
mutation, or change, is transferred from one type of cell to
another.”
Hmmm, Terri thought. “Can genetics change how big things
get?”
“ Why, sure, and that’s why
genetics are good for the world. Today, genetic scientists can
change all kinds of genes, so farmers can grow rice that’s more
nutritious, they can grow wheat that grows faster in different
climates, they can grow bigger ears of corn, bigger heads of
lettuce, things like that, so that food is cheaper and more
plentiful. There are a lot of countries in the world where people
don’t have as much to eat as we do, and it’s the science of
genetics that will help those poorer countries.”
This sounded like a truly great thing to
Terri, helping feed poorer countries that didn’t have as much food
as America. She’d seen commercials on TV advertizing for charity
money for a lot of these poor countries, to help feed kids that
didn’t have any food to eat, or running water, or medicine when
they got sick. Or anything, for that matter.
Mr. Seymour went on, “And not only will we
have more food to give to people who don’t have enough to eat,
genetic scientists can make better seeds too, so people in
countries with less food can grown their own vegetables. See, some
countries can’t grow many vegetables because they don’t have good
soil, or enough water, but now, with genetically changed
wing, but then stopped in her tracks.
“ Oh, you’ve got to be
kidding me,” she moaned out loud.
The wing’s doors were locked, and there was
a sign which read: WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE BUT THE
NATURAL SCIENCE WING IS CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS. THE WING WILL
REOPEN IN TWO WEEKS.
Terri couldn’t believe her luck—it just got
worse and worse, didn’t it?
I can’t wait two
weeks! she thought. She had to find these
things out now. Mumbling to herself, she walked back to the
check-out desk. Maybe Mr. Seymour could help her.
“ Excuse me, Mr. Seymour,”
she asked. “But I need to know about these words, and the Natural
Science wing is closed.”
Mr. Seymour was sort of
tubby, and he was always reading poetry books behind the desk. He
was nice to all the town kids, and he always went out of his way to
help people out with their school assignments or whatever they
needed to look up. He wore glasses and had long brown hair in front
that sometimes hung in his eyes. “Yeah, I’m afraid so, Terri,” he
said. “Each year we have one section of the library repainted and
recarpeted, and this year, the Natural Science section was on the
list. They always do it late in the summer because that’s when we
have the fewest people in.” He leaned over the desk, pushed his
glasses up on his nose, and took the piece of paper from her.
“Hmmm, what have we got here?” he said and began reading the words
on the paper. His forehead seemed to crunch up as he read. Then he
said, “Well, these are some mighty sophisticated words for a
twelve-year-old. Do you know what genetics are?”
“ Not really,” Terri
answered. “Just that it has something to do with genes, and all
living cells have these things in them called genes.”
“ Right,” Mr. Seymour
agreed. “Genes are like little codes in our cells which give us the
special traits that make each person different. And animals and
plants too. For instance, a tomato has different genes than a
banana, and you have different genes from me.”
“ Because you’re a man and
I’m a girl?” Terri figured.
“ Exactly, and because of
lots of other things too. Like because you have blue eyes and I
have brown, and I wear glasses and you don’t. And today there’s a
special science called genetics , which involves changing the
way genes are arranged in living cells.”
“ Changing,” Terri said,
“like that one word there, mutation. That means change, doesn’t
it?”
“ Right again,” Mr. Seymour
said. “And this word here, transmission, refers to how this
mutation, or change, is transferred from one type of cell to
another.”
Hmmm, Terri thought. “Can genetics change how big things
get?”
“ Why, sure, and that’s why
genetics are good for the world. Today, genetic scientists can
change all kinds of genes, so farmers can grow rice that’s more
nutritious, they can grow wheat that grows faster in different
climates, they can grow bigger ears of corn, bigger heads of
lettuce, things like that, so that food is cheaper and more
plentiful. There are a lot of countries in the world where people
don’t have as much to eat as we do, and it’s the science of
genetics that will help those poorer countries.”
This sounded like a truly great thing to
Terri, helping feed poorer countries that didn’t have as much food
as America. She’d seen commercials on TV advertizing for charity
money for a lot of these poor countries, to help feed kids that
didn’t have any food to eat, or running water, or medicine when
they got sick. Or anything, for that matter.
Mr. Seymour went on, “And not only will we
have more food to give to people who don’t have enough to eat,
genetic scientists can make better seeds too, so people in
countries with less food can grown their own vegetables. See, some
countries can’t grow many vegetables because they don’t have good
soil, or enough water, but now, with genetically changed
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