The Code Breaker
Ratings44
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings44
Average rating3.9
The best-selling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns. In 2012, Nobel Prize winning scientist Jennifer Doudna hit upon an invention that will transform the future of the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. It has already been deployed to cure deadly diseases, fight the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, and make inheritable changes in the genes of babies. But what does that mean for humanity? Should we be hacking our own DNA to make us less susceptible to disease? Should we democratise the technology that would allow parents to enhance their kids? After discovering this CRISPR, Doudna is now wrestling these even bigger issues. THE CODE BREAKERS is an examination of how life as we know it is about to change – and a brilliant portrayal of the woman leading the way.
Reviews with the most likes.
interesting person, science, and stories...but told at an excruciatingly slow pace - rhythm of this book was off
This is a good example of a book I read for book club that I might not otherwise have picked up, but I'm so glad I read it. I started it expecting a long (it's a big book) heavy tale that would require my closest attention and some coffee. What I found instead was what I feel is a well written book that somehow explains enough of the science to be able to understand the impact of each discovery and the way this technology has developed over decades.
Although I learned about Jennifer Doudna, the book spent considerable time touching on the community of people who also helped push the science forward to the discoveries of CRISPR and the gene editing tools and understanding that led to the mRNA vaccines that are in use today. It gave me an inside look at the process and large amounts of collaboration (and yes, personalities and competition) in the scientific community on these cutting edge research topics.
Not only will I take away new knowledge about the topic of gene editing and understand a bit better what may lie ahead for us, I will also spend time thinking about all of the moral and ethical questions that come up with using it. A favorite quote (p. 368) is “In a world in which there are people who don't get access to eyeglasses, it's hard to imagine how we will find a way to have equal access to gene enhancements. Imagine what that will do to our species”.
Thought this was going to be a biography with some science in it; turned out to be a hagiography that ran all over the place. I don't understand why the author kept inserting himself into the story.
3.5/5
This is a really interesting insight into the evolution of gene editing and what that means for our future. The beginning wasn't as interesting to me, but it definitely picked up as the story continued.
