A web site devoted to novels and films that confront the social, ethical, and cultural implications of genetics.
"Behavior of Hawkweeds, The" in Ship Fever (1996)
By Andrea Barrett
“The Behavior of Hawkweeds,” a short story from Andrea Barrett’s National Book Award winning collection Ship Fever (1996), interweaves the stories of three relationships: Gregor Mendel and Carl Nageli, Antonia and her husband Richard who is hexadactylic (born with an extra finger and/or toe), and Antonia’s Czech Grandfather, Tati and his German boss, Leiniger. As a boy, Tati grew up in the same village as Mendel, and at the age of ten begins to work with Mendel in the monastery’s garden. Mendel, seeking scientific approval and praise, asks for advice from Nageli, who tells Mendel to study the heredity of Hawkweeds not knowing that they have a different pattern of genetic transfer from pea plants...