The 'double helix' in the title does, of course, refer to DNA. The 'downward
gyre' alludes to William Butler Yeats' poem, 'The Second Coming' which
begins:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
The Poem expresses dismay over the state of the world and a foreboding about what is to come.
The story appeared in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Analog Magazine
--Helix of Friends--
Parallel worlds, not-so-imaginary playmates and repressed fears are features of this story
The story appeared in the September 2011 issue of Analog Magazine