The Code Breaker

Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race

By: Walter Isaacson

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur, Walter Isaacson

Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

A 2022 Audie Award Finalist

A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post

The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compelling” (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.

When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would.

Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book’s author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his codiscovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned a curiosity of nature into an invention that will transform 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.

The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. The past half-century has been a digital age, based on the microchip, computer, and internet. Now we are entering a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code.

Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to make us less susceptible to viruses? What a wonderful boon that would be! And what about preventing depression? Hmmm…Should we allow parents, if they can afford it, to enhance the height or muscles or IQ of their kids?

After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020. Her story is an “enthralling detective story” (Oprah Daily) that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species.

©2021 Walter Isaacson. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Quite entertaining, sometimes funny

Quite entertaining, sometimes funny,
In some cases childish. For general audience, rather than for scientists. Don't believe everything it tells

Good, But Way Too Much Walter

This is supposed to be a biography of Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier (along with other scientists) and the development of CRISPR gene editing technology. And, to the extent Isaacson sticks to this subject, it is a very interesting book. Isaacson is an excellent writer with an engaging style, and has clearly conducted deep research, including in depth interviews that are so often lacking in books today.

It is also important that this book highlights the very important contributions of two women in science. If the book serves as an inspiration for young women scientists, it is well worth it.

Unfortunately, Isaacson, a former editor of Time Magazine, could really have used an editor. He proves the old adage that it is very difficult to edit one's own work, and, as a result, the book at times becomes downright annoying.

Here are the principal problems with this book:

1. Way too much Walter. There are few biographies where first person pronouns appear so often. Isaacson jumps in and out of the the story as a protagonist. It's almost like a wedding photographer putting the camera on a tripod and time delay so that he can get in the shot, even up to the point of helping cut the cake. This is incredibly annoying. If Isaacson had saved his personal observations only for the epilogue, or had simply not stated them, the book would have been much more to the point.

2. Equating biological science with computers and coding. Isaacson tires to equate the developments in gene editing with Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates developing personal computers forty or fifty years ago. There is a superficial similarity, but there is a pretty obvious difference between editing genes and circuit boards, as well as between a computer virus (serious as that may be) and one that affects humans. Then there is the issue of bio hackers--people literally doing gene splicing in their garages. Isaacson equates this to the "democratization" of computer science and seems to see little wrong with it. Again, he is injecting his opinion front and center--one that is dubious and that Doudna probably would not fully share.

3. Isaacson does a reasonable job of cataloging the ethical issues raised by gene editing, but he again injects his view that the potential advantages outweigh the obvious potential negative implications and dangers. Since he chose to wrap the book in COVID (probably unavoidable given the time in which it was written and the subject matter), we certainly have to acknowledge the wonderful work by scientists in using RNA technology (pioneered by the protagonists) in developing diagnostic tests and vaccines. However, serious people are now beginning to realize COVID could have happened as a result of a lab accident. A rogue Chinese scientist did gene editing for human babies to the great consternation (perhaps horror is a better word) of Doudna. Perhaps Isaacson should re-think his seemingly blase attitude about the risks.

Ban it? No. But we should be very careful. Doudna seems to realize this. I wish Isaacson had expanded on her views on this rather than his.

Unexpectedly entertaining

This is such a timely and important story, well researched and fairly easy for non-scientists like me to grasp.
Three challenges: I wish the author had stuck more closely to the points of view of the main character and the others actually involved in the actions and questions being raised. To me, there was extra time spent giving us his own opinions and answers, only to have the characters repeat the same questions again and again.
Second, I really liked the narrator’s voice but I had to pay close attention, as a few times ( only because her speaking voice is feminine) I thought she was expressing Jennifer Doudna’s words or ideas, only to later realize they were the author’s.
Last, I kept wishing for more chronological detail of her personal life and the decisions she made and actions she took just to get through the day to day.
All in all though, a solid narrative that held my attention to the end. I will definitely read more of Mr. Isaacson’s books!

Excellent!!

Fascinating material. So well written. Highly recommend. I will read this again and soon. Loved!!

Wonderful Book

A true story about science and people that I could not put down. The future for us is so exciting and challenging.

An amazing book that couldn’t be more topical.

I absolutely loved this book for so many reasons. Exceptionally well written, as are all of his books, and it goes into enough detail about the science so I feel like I actually have a decent understanding of what CRISPR is. During most of the book, when we see the East Coast and West Coast labs racing to be the first to publish, it reads more like a spy novel. I can’t recommend this highly enough. Well worth the time required.

Excellent Read

The author takes the complexity of science and weaves it into a wonderful narrative. There is intrigue, personal stories, history, and so much more. This is a page turner and yet, also a science lesson.

Riveting!

Superbly written. The real-ife characters are on par with the members of Th Greatest Generation. I know what I owe and to whom it is owed.

It peaks your curiosity

Fascinating read. Walter Isaacson has a talent for making you feel like you are in the room with the subjects. Timely biopic.

Science for the real world

I enjoyed learning about the scientists, especially the women, whose curiosity and intelligence lead them to discover the codes and tools to combat deadly viruses and genetic syndromes. The relevance to the discovery of Covid 19 vaccines and testing is remarkable. It was written for both curious laymen and scientists alike. My husband is a science teacher and has referenced these scientists on numerous occasions