The Code of Life

A brilliant non-fiction book explaining the world of genetics and heredity to children – with exciting ideas for their own experiments.

Why do children look like their parents? Why are some people blond and others brunette, and where do we get our eye color from?  

This book explains genetic theory, what genes are, why DNA plays an important role and what all these insights have to do with a curious monk. An exciting journey through the history of science, present-day genetic research and engineering and right through to the question of identity – because who would have thought how much of our personality is defined by our genes and how interesting genes can be?

Dr. Carla Häfner was born in Braunschweig in 1978 and studied medicine in Göttingen, Boston and Ulm. Today, she lives with her husband and three children in Neu-Ulm and works as a doctor and book author.

Mieke Scheier was born in a small village between Osnabrück and Oldenburg in 1986. After studying cultural science in Freiburg, she moved to Hamburg to study illustration at the HAW (University of Applied Science). Mieke lives and works as a freelance illustrator in Hamburg.