Hawaii Five-O was my favorite police show growing up, out of the many others that I’ve watched. But I know that whenever there’s a crime- the forensic scientist is called to the scene. They collect evidence such as fingerprints and hair; anything that might lead them to the culprit. Sometimes they have even solved the mystery themselves- but none of this would be possible if not for DNA research and cataloging. This intrigued me, as I did not know much about how or why DNA worked. This personal study into DNA led me to decide on this topic as my History Day project.
I first went to my local public library, as there are many good resources at any library. I checked out a few books about the history of DNA, and how it was discovered. I then did research online, and read many articles about discovering the structure of DNA. I also did preliminary research on primary sources related to the discovery of DNA’s structure, but have not found anything yet to include in my research.
Website was my choice of category because I had a good experience with websites last year. I had enjoyed creating a website because of the freedom of where to place all of my facts and data on my topic, as well as designing the visual aspects of the site. I used the NHDWebCentral website creator provided to contestants per the rules of History Day. It was slightly hard to navigate, as there was not much information pertaining to the specific building blocks of the website creator. There were also some elements missing- to me personally- from website creator, such as being able to copy elements on one page to another.
This year’s theme is Breaking Barriers in History. My topic is perfectly tied in with this year’s theme- for because of DNA, breakthroughs in DNA analysis have broken barriers in forensic science, and created limitless possibilities for scientific advancement. It has let forensic scientists solve cold cases and hereditary mysteries. Some scientists are even researching into reviving animals extinct tens of thousands of years ago- such as the wooly mammoth.