A review by vickyt530
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

5.0

Although sold as a biography of Jennifer Doudna, it really is a biography of the [still-very-young] CRISPR and gene editing technology. The book goes all the way back to touch upon Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA (along with Rosalind Franklin), and brings us up to relatively present (2020) applications of CRISPR. Isaacson does an excellent job of explaining CRISPR concepts and discoveries, and I found myself getting excited about all the cool ways these molecules work. I wanted to learn more! (Though, to be fair, I did get a minor in biochem in college). I appreciated how there were actually a series of mini-biographies of many of the major players in CRISPR, such as Zhang, Charpentier, and He Jiankui of "crispr baby" notoriety. Other themes were the interplay between academia and industry, and the cutthroat nature of "scooping" and "credit" in science. The book thus acknowledges the diverse players, competitors and collaborators that lead to discoveries in modern science. The first 2/3rds focused on these scientific processes and characters, but the last third is more about ethics and COVID19. While relevant, it felt too broad of a brush (I could read another book about bioethics, if that was my interest) and stopping the CRISPR story at COVID19 applications felt too abrupt. This "biography" will undoubtedly need an update as Doudna, and CRISPR's, story are still so young and constantly evolving.