A Crack In Creation by Jennifer Doudna

 

Jennifer Doudna headed up the team that brought the CRISPR gene editing technique to the attention of the scientific community.  It is a significant achievement for several reasons.  First, it is a better gene editing tool.  Second, it is much simpler to manipulate and has a high success rate for many varied uses.  Third, it is many times less expensive than the methods being used before.

There are a plethora of possibilities this opens.  There are many one-pair diseases such as Tay-Sachs and some cystic fibrosis that could be healed in those who have been born.  It holds out the possibility of making breakthroughs in diseases such as cancer and diabetes.  It can work on food security by manipulating the genes in plants to produce hardier, more productive crops.  

But there are also a downside.  There are two types of gene editing.  One is the one that occurs after a person is born which only affects that person.  But there is also the possibility of editing a cell's DNA before birth which would change the whole human type going forward.  This is a possibility that could lead to a bad effect that would then be passed down through generations.  It also opens the idea of designer humans who are enhanced for things like more muscle strength or beauty or intelligence.  This is the area Doudna would like to see the scientific community and governments unite to prevent until much more is known about the effects.

This is an interesting book about an interesting woman.  The thing I saw throughout the book was her quest to push human knowledge further and to improve life.  I was very impressed with how much credit she gave her coworkers throughout this country and others and her determination to make sure that this discovery is used for good and not evil.  This book is recommended to science readers.