LECTURE
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Gene is DNA
Prof. Jinying Gou From Renmin University of China
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"As you sow, so shall you reap"—this proverb captures heredity, the fundamental law of life's continuity. Humans have long observed inheritance: eight thousand years ago, our ancestors selected superior seeds for better harvests, giving rise to primitive agricultural civilization—an unconscious application of genetic principles. Yet the material basis of heredity—how genetic information is stored in cells and transmitted precisely across generations—long remained shrouded in speculation. This lecture, "Gene is DNA," traces the experimental foundations of molecular genetics, from Griffith's transforming principle through the Watson–Crick double helix. These discoveries laid the theoretical groundwork for DNA manipulation, catalyzed molecular biology's rise, and empowered humanity to understand and ultimately engineer life.