A Crack In Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control EvolutionBY 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 |
Other editions - View all
A Crack in Creation: The New Power to Control Evolution Jennifer Doudna,Samuel Sternberg No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
already amino acid animals bacterial bacteriophage bacterium Berkeley biology Blake blood cells called cancer Cas9 protein cause CCR5 chromosome clinical trials coli colleagues copy create CRISPR immune CRISPR technology CRISPR-based cure Danisco developed DNA mutations DNA sequences DNA-cutting double helix drug effects embryos Emmanuelle enzyme ethical experiments function gene drives gene editing gene therapy gene-editing technologies genetic code genetic diseases genetic engineering genetic information genetic material genetically modified Genome Editing germline editing guide RNA homologous recombination human cells human embryos human genome human germline immune system infection Jill laboratory letters of DNA Martin matching mice million molecular mouse muscle mutated gene mutations myostatin nuclease off-target organisms patients percent pigs plants plasmid potential precisely produce Recombinant DNA repair RNA interference Science scientific scientists sickle cell disease slice species stem cells target therapeutic thermophilus tion tool traits viral DNA virus viruses vivo ZFNs


