Book Review – Code Breaker

 

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Walter Isaacson, Simon and Schuster, ISBN 978-1-9821-1585-2, 536 pages.

 

Take a trip.  Into the world of DNA and its truly important sibling RNA.  Visit the laboratories around the world where super bright folks are delving into the very minutiae of life itself.  Learn about the fascinating collaborations of some amazing brains and the quasi-devious competitions between egos and research leaders.  Watch as universities assemble small armies of lawyers to launch patent protections for laboratory discoveries that might lead to enormous fortunes.  Meet some biohackers who are willing to inject themselves possibly questionable fluids.  Meet the Chinese researcher whose groundbreaking attempt to eliminate HIV in a pair of twins that led him to worldwide condemnation and jail.

 

Meet Jennifer Doudna and her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier whose amazing efforts produced the now famous CRISPR technology that allows scientists to edit the human gene.  

 

Join in this global gathering of minds in unending conferences while they individually race to publish and patent their latest discoveries.  Learn how a few extra dollars can expedite the peer review process and might lead you to win the race.

 

And now that we have these new tools, do we focus on treatment of known diseases / defects (such as cancer, viruses, sickle cell anemia, etc.) or do we provide the rich with the opportunity to enhance their progeny (stronger, taller, smarter, etc.).  Interesting ethical challenges to be sure. 

 

This technology provided the footsteps that led to the Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer vaccines that the world used to combat the global plague of Covid 19.

 

Loved reading this book (my copy was autographed by the author, a longtime journalist, editor).  Learned so much about a world we seldom see.  And, gratified to learn that Doudna and Charpentier were finally recognized for their efforts with the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.  Of course, they built on the shoulders of those scientists who came before but their work is nevertheless momentous.

 

Now you may ponder about your future family tree.   And before reading this book, I thought I knew a little bit about DNA.  So much yet to learn. 

 

Ron Gilmore

Last Updated: March 3, 2024