On this April Fool's Day I decided to feature a guest post for the fourth installment of this series. The guest is my 5-year old son, who stated his intention to grow up to be a scientist, and then someone who draws science to explain it to other people. This was quite a departure from fire-fighting astronaut, but I suspect he began to realize that the lack of oxygen in space might impact his employment prospects.

I sometimes take advantage of time spent "coloring" with the kids to sketch out ideas for projects. But it was just a week ago that my 5-year old wanted to start copying what I was drawing. Which is how he came to be a guest illustrator for this series. This drawing comprises DNA polymerases, nucleotide triphosphates, methylated template DNA, PCR products (both pictorial and in-gel), and the hydrogen-bonding pattern of a DNA adduct to a cognate non-natural nucleoside. My sketches are pretty rough so I must admit that it isn't a very big stretch from my version.

This installment is inspired by work in Shana Sturla's lab at ETH.