The Code Breaker, Jennifer Doudna, CRISPR, and the Future of the Human Race, by Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster 2021

When Jennifer Doudna's Dad dropped a copy of James Watson's The Double Helix on the sixth-grader's bed, it worked -  his daughter started thinking about DNA and genetics. And she decided to move on it, but not on DNA, an area dominated by male scientists, but RNA, that OTHER cell that directs the creation of protein to support DNA.  She was thinking that that if she and her collaborators could find a way to edit DNA using a tool called CRISPR it would open a new  field of science.  And as we all now know from being bombarded with pandemic vaccination news, it did.  In 2020 Doudna and her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  "This year's prize is about rewriting the code of life," the secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy proclaimed when the announcement was made. "These genetic scissors have taken the life sciences into a new epoch."

But there are moral and ethical issues below the surface of the science of the genome.  Do we really want to create "designer babies" at the expense of others?  Can we ethically identify and manage the decisions that arise from this new and powerful science? When Doudna and her collaborators created the CRISPR gene editing protocol they gave scientists a way to approach the horror of Covid-19.  As the example of the possibilities, their work is pioneering even more control over our genomic structures and whatever comes at us next.

Author Walter Isaacson looks at innovation and tech, and now, genetics.  It's the next step for humanity and we need to understand where it's taking us.  "If we are wise in how we use it, biotechnology can make us more able to fend off viruses, overcome genetic defects, and enhance our bodies and minds.  All creatures large and small use whatever tricks they can to survive, and so should we.  It's natural.  Bacteria came up with a pretty clever virus-fighting technique.    But it took them trillions of life-cycles to do so.  We can't wait that long.  We will have to combine our curiosity with our inventiveness to speed up the process," says Isaacson.  

Mill Girl Verdict A+++:  I'll read - and love - anything by Walter Isaacson.  He's one of my heroes.  He took a tough subject, biotechnology, and during a pandemic made it penetratingly clear.

Patricia E. Moody

FORTUNE magazine  "Pioneering Woman in Mfg" 

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A Mill Girl at Blue Heron Journal, on-line resource for business thought-leaders and decision-makers,  patriciaemoody@gmail.com