Scientists quest for "The Rules of Life"

Scientists are working to uncover the rule book that governs every aspect of every living thing on Earth, from the molecular scale to the entirety of Earth's ecosystems.

They're making progress. For example, science knows a lot about DNA — what it is and what it does. But, despite all of our recent advances we still don't know some of the most basic rules of how the genes within DNA function.

Without that information, it is difficult to predict how life on Earth will change in the years to come. Finding out the rules will help scientists react faster if there was ever a large outbreak of disease or big global change to the way people live.

Unfortunately, nature seems to do everything it can to make sure humans can't figure out these rules of life.

Richard Paul produced a documentary, titled "The Rules of Life," profiling leading American scientists engaged in this quest and explores how their work might crack the code that holds keys to life's important scientific questions.

To listen to the documentary, click the audio player above.

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