What can children learn about genetic engineering through a simple storybook?
Quite a bit, says Jackson Comes, a second-year Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering.
Comes recently wrote and published a storybook called "The Garden of Living Recipes." The story follows a young girl named Lila who discovers a magical book that contains recipes for trees, flowers, insects and more. When the key component of fireflies, glow, gets mixed into other recipes, the garden grows wild and strange. Moving glow back to the firefly recipe restores the garden.
While the story may sound more like fantasy than science, it's actually an analogy for Comes’ research in genetic engineering. In the Carothers Lab, Comes is developing new tools to allow scientists to perform even more complicated procedures than what is currently possible. In the language of his book, he says, he develops tools that allow scientists to move components from one recipe to another.
“When Lila moves these components, it's on accident and seemingly at random,” Comes says. “But when we do this as genetic engineers, we really don't want to do this randomly. We need to do this very specifically because we have very specific goals in mind. So, I have been developing new ways to move these components in very predictable and specific ways.”
Comes’ research focuses on producing genetically engineered bacteria. These souped-up bacteria will allow scientists to produce chemicals and materials more sustainably. One critical application of this work is gasoline, which could be produced in a lab using bacteria instead of extractive fossil fuels.
“People often think of genetic engineering as biology, but it's also a big part of chemical engineering,” Comes says. “One of my favorite things about this department is how broad it is. Chemical engineers work on everything from plastics and energy to medicine and synthetic biology, and this project was a fun way to share one small piece of that world.”
Comes developed the storybook as part of the ASHAY Storybook Project, which brings together a cohort of young people, ages 18-26, to write children’s stories based on their life experiences. The timeline was short — the group went from brainstorming story ideas to a completed manuscript in just two months. Working with the other storytellers and a pair of mentors made the work a little lighter and a lot more fun, Comes says.
“Everyone was genuinely excited to share ideas, celebrate each other's work, and cheer one another on,” Comes says. “It reminded me that storytelling, just like science, is often at its best when it's collaborative.”
Ultimately, Comes hopes his story inspires children to see biology as something exciting. “Mixing life's recipes together sounds like pure fantasy, but scientists really are rewriting DNA every day to solve problems in medicine, agriculture, and sustainability,” he says.
“My hope is that years from now, a student who read this book as a child learns about genetics in school and suddenly realizes, ‘Wait...this is what Lila was doing!’ If this story sparks even one future scientist, engineer, or simply a lifelong curiosity about the natural world, I'd consider it a success.”
"The Garden of Living Recipes" is available for free on BookSmart by World Reader.
Originally published August 12, 2026