Can learning molecular biology and genetics be enjoyable? Of course it can. Biologists know their field is exciting and fascinating and that learning how cells and molecules shape the living world is extraordinarily interesting. But can students who are not already inclined towards science also be convinced that learning molecular biology is worthwhile? For example, students taking biology simply to satisfy an academic distribution requirement, or ones with previous negative school experiences that made them believe that science is boring and irrelevant? Is it possible to persuade such students that learning molecular biology and genetics can be fun? In this commentary, Peter Schattner opines that without motivating students, the amount of comprehension and retention will be limited. And there is evidence that introductory biology and genetics courses for nonmajors are far from ideal. Realising that increasing student motivation might improve student understanding and test scores, educators have begun to include content intended to better motivate students. Nevertheless, Schattner believes that the steps taken to date have been limited and that alternate approaches, with greater emphasis on motivating and even entertaining students, would improve both student motivation and test performance. He concludes that the next step is the introduction of story-driven teaching methods into environments where quantitative learning measures, such as genetic literacy tests, are available for assessment of educational effectiveness. That will be the true test of the efficacy of story-based teaching of biology.