Genetics is the study of heredity, and reveals how the characteristics of living organisms are determined by the genes passed down the generations.

The human genome was mapped in 2003, and this enhanced ability to study our genes is transforming medicine, from CRISPR, the gene editing technology that allows us to alter the course of hereditary disease, to using genetics to identify the types of bacteria that populate our bodies.

Stripping the subject to its bare necessities, 30-Second Genetics charts the most extraordinary discoveries, from the fundamentals of cell biology to the almost unbelievable advances in DNA sequencing and stem cell technology.