I lose track sometimes of exactly what the common genetic terms mean and how the genetic pieces work together. What’s the difference between a chromosome and a strand of DNA? A gene and a genome? What are those three-letter sets in a DNA diagram called and what do they do? I’m not a scientist, but since I was an English teacher, connecting the names of genetic units to the units of written language—words, sentences, and so on—makes the picture a little clearer.  Maybe it will do the same for the reader.