Reviews
"Urgent, riveting, and endlessly fascinating, A Crack in Creation is a journey through the past, present, and future of one of biology's most significant discoveries. Combining deep historical perspectives, personal narrative, and scientific data, Doudna and Sternberg bring the story of CRISPR and 'gene editing' alive with pointed honesty and clarity. This book is destined to become an instant classic. Read it and understand its implications if you want to understand our biological future."--Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gene and The Emperor of All Maladies "The technology of gene editing will be the most important advance of our era, one that will create astonishing opportunities combined with frightening moral challenges. In the tradition of The Double Helix , one of the pioneers of the field describes the exciting collaborative and competitive hunt for the key breakthrough and what it portends for our future."--Walter Isaacson, best-selling author of Steve Jobs , Einstein , and The Innovators " A Crack in Creation , by one of the most pioneering women in science, is both exhilarating and frightening. Jennifer Doudna and her coauthor Samuel Sternberg challenge us to confront the possible dangers of gene editing, even as we embrace its incredible potential. This book is a roadmap to our future."--Arianna Huffington, best-selling author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution "Jennifer Doudna is the true pioneer who built the bridge between the basic science of CRISPR and its diverse applications in agriculture and medicine. Writing with Samuel Sternberg, she has crafted a beautifully written book with A Crack in Creation --a pure pleasure for both neophyte and expert. Now is the time to read about the revolution that could change our world." -- George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and author of Regenesis "We are developing ever more powerful tools that allow us to change the genetic makeup not only of life around us but also of ourselves. Describing the potential benefits of these tools as well as some of the risks and ethical issues they present to society, A Crack in Creation is a scientific thriller and a gripping read, framed as a personal voyage by a brilliant scientist who played a major role in developing what is currently one of the most promising and powerful ways of editing our genomes."--Venki Ramakrishnan, president of the Royal Society and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, "Urgent, riveting, and endlessly fascinating, A Crack in Creation is a journey through the past, present, and future of one of biology's most significant discoveries. Combining deep historical perspectives, personal narrative, and scientific data, Doudna and Sternberg bring the story of CRISPR and 'gene editing' alive with pointed honesty and clarity. This book is destined to become an instant classic. Read it and understand its implications if you want to understand our biological future." --Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gene and The Emperor of All Maladies "The technology of gene editing will be the most important advance of our era, one that will create astonishing opportunities combined with frightening moral challenges. In the tradition of The Double Helix , one of the pioneers of the field describes the exciting collaborative and competitive hunt for the key breakthrough and what it portends for our future." --Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Steve Jobs , Einstein , and The Innovators " A Crack in Creation , by one of the most pioneering women in science, is both exhilarating and frightening. Jennifer Doudna and her co-author Samuel Sternberg challenge us to confront the possible dangers of gene editing, even as we embrace its incredible potential. This book is a roadmap to our future." --Arianna Huffington, bestselling author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution "Jennifer Doudna is the true pioneer who built the bridge between the basic science of CRISPR and its diverse applications in agriculture and medicine. Writing with Samuel Sternberg, she has crafted a beautifully written book with A Crack in Creation --a pure pleasure for both neophyte and expert. Now is the time to read about the revolution that could change our world." --George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and author of Regenesis "We are developing ever more powerful tools that allow us to change the genetic makeup not only of life around us but also of ourselves. Describing the potential benefits of these tools as well as some of the risks and ethical issues they present to society, A Crack in Creation is a scientific thriller and a gripping read, framed as a personal voyage by a brilliant scientist who played a major role in developing what is currently one of the most promising and powerful ways of editing our genomes." --Venki Ramakrishnan, president of the Royal Society and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
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Synopsis
BY THE WINNER OF THE 2020 NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize "A powerful mix of science and ethics . . . This book is required reading for every concerned citizen--the material it covers should be discussed in schools, colleges, and universities throughout the country."-- New York Review of Books Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. That is, until 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the gene-editing tool CRISPR--a revolutionary new technology that she helped create--to make heritable changes in human embryos. The cheapest, simplest, most effective way of manipulating DNA ever known, CRISPR may well give us the cure to HIV, genetic diseases, and some cancers. Yet even the tiniest changes to DNA could have myriad, unforeseeable consequences, to say nothing of the ethical and societal repercussions of intentionally mutating embryos to create "better" humans. Writing with fellow researcher Sam Sternberg, Doudna--who has since won the Nobel Prize for her CRISPR research--shares the thrilling story of her discovery and describes the enormous responsibility that comes with the power to rewrite the code of life. "The future is in our hands as never before, and this book explains the stakes like no other." -- George Lucas "An invaluable account . . . We owe Doudna several times over." -- Guardian, Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize "The future is in our hands as never before, and this book explains the stakes like no other." -- George Lucas "Required reading for every concerned citizen." -- New York Review of Books Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. That is, until 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the gene-editing tool CRISPR--a revolutionary new technology that she helped create--to make heritable changes in human embryos. The cheapest, simplest, most effective way of manipulating DNA ever known, CRISPR may well give us the cure to HIV, genetic diseases, and some cancers. Yet even the tiniest changes to DNA could have myriad, unforeseeable consequences--to say nothing of the ethical and societal repercussions of intentionally mutating embryos to create "better" humans. Writing with fellow researcher Sam Sternberg, Doudna shares the thrilling story of her discovery and describes the enormous responsibility that comes with the power to rewrite the code of life. "An invaluable account . . . We owe Doudna several times over." -- Guardian, A trailblazing biologist grapples with her role in the biggest scientific discovery of our era: a cheap, easy way of rewriting genetic code, with nearly limitless promise and peril.
