Who Am I?

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Your DNA, Your Design

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Just A Bit Of DNA Helps Explain Humans' Big Brains

Scientists studying the difference between human and chimpanzee DNA have found one stretch of human DNA that can make the brains of mice grow significantly bigger.

Scientists would like to understand what the genetic basis is for humans' apparently special capacity for logic, abstract thought, complex emotions and language. Humans and chimpanzees have DNA that's remarkably similar — researchers say our genetic code is about 95 percent identical. But Silver and some colleagues recently started looking at pieces of DNA that differ markedly between chimps and humans.

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The classic novel got its long-awaited film adaptation this month, drawing new attention to its classic theme of internal struggle writ large in human conflict, not to mention science fiction's excellent ability to take that abstraction one step further.

In the story, protagonist Ender Wiggin battles between what he sees as his opposing dual natures: compassion, personified by his sister, and sociopathic violence, embodied by his brother. Whom does he truly take after?  Can he find a balance between the two, please the parental figures pushing him, and save the world?  The story's enduring popularity speaks to how many young siblings identify with Ender's struggle, if not to save the entire human race, at least to preserve peace at home.

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Unemployed Girl by Kazimir Severinovich Malevich

"What do you do?" ...You lose so much more than money when you lose a job.

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Who am I? – It's only the biggest theme in all of Western literature.  -Matthew Wiener, creator and Executive Producer of Mad Men.

Who better to kick off this blog than the character that has become a modern-day archetype of identity crisis: Don Draper.

When we left him at the end of Season 5, he was weighing his answer to the question "Are you alone?"  Sitting in a bar solo, just as he started the series, the answer seems up to him, and what will come of his struggle to reconcile his past identity and the new life he's created for himself. The lyrics of You Only Live Twice play clearly in the background: "One life for yourself, and one for your dreams."  It's the American identity crisis of the 1960's writ small, and it resonates strongly with a modern audience.

So will Don finally buy the persona he's selling to everyone else? Or underneath it all, is he just a Dick?  Two seasons will tell.... starting this Sunday at 9:00 PM EDT on AMC.