The Code Breaker

Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race

By: Walter Isaacson, Walter Isaacson - introduction

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur

A 2022 Audie Award Finalist

A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post

The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compelling” (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.

When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would.

Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book’s author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his codiscovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned a curiosity of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions.

The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. The past half-century has been a digital age, based on the microchip, computer, and internet. Now we are entering a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code.

Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to make us less susceptible to viruses? What a wonderful boon that would be! And what about preventing depression? Hmmm…Should we allow parents, if they can afford it, to enhance the height or muscles or IQ of their kids?

After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020. Her story is an “enthralling detective story” (Oprah Daily) that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species.

Critic reviews

"Kathe Mazur skillfully narrates this clear and well-researched biography of Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, who, along with colleagues, advanced biochemistry by employing CRISPR technology to improve and simplify genetic engineering—ultimately leading to a safe, effective COVID vaccine. Moving beyond Doudna's own story, this audiobook also discusses the role of women in science, the intersection of research and business, competitiveness (and cooperation) in academia, and the implications of altering human genes. Mazur's personable delivery and measured pace help listeners access the science and connect to Doudna as a woman and a researcher. Her performance highlights the excitement of new discoveries, the difficulties of forging new paths, the wide-ranging ethical concerns of emerging technologies, and the hope for humanity's future. Author Walter Isaacson reads the epilogue."

An Exciting, Lucid, & Articulate Account of CRISPR, Gene-editing

An Exciting, Lucid, & Articulate Account of CRISPR, Gene-editing & the drivers behind the scientific leap forward brought to us by the joining of brilliant minds against viruses, including COVID19. As someone who has earned two doctorates, an MPH, worked at NIH & served as a scientific reviewer for grants, PAs/FOAs, peer-reviewed publications, and translated Scientific evidence into policy, I can relate to the academic, funding, publishing & policy sides of the competitive science community. This books fills an interesting & important gap for anyone who has an interest in the evolution of our species & the elimination of disease, disability & premature death.
~Dr. Chris P Hafner, PhD, ND, MPH, LAc

Fascinating book

At first it was very technical & a little difficult to follow, but I continued on & am very glad I did. It picked up & held me enthralled to the very end. Even tho the book is read by a woman, occasionally I can hear Isaacson’s voice behind the words. I picked up this book after hearing him present in on ‘Morning Joe’ where he is a frequent commentator. I recall earlier in the year he briefly had mentioned being in a vaccine test group. Now all the things he said that day make sense. I now understand how we got our COVID vaccines in record time. In fact this book explains that it was a process over 40 years in the making. He describes & discusses the miraculous opportunities & morality decisions to be made by the development of CRISPR (something I never heard of prior to this book) by Jennifer Doudna & Charpentier. They are well deserving of their Nobel Prize for the gift they have brought the human race. Thank you Walter Isaacson for this book.

What a wonderful book!

At first I thought this book might be boring. Boy, was I wrong. It is an amazing story of how pure scientific research can be applied to solve current problems. I loved this book

Excellent

Another excellent work by Walter Isaacson. Thoroughly researched and presented as most of his other works

Priceless write up.

Impressive discussion of researchers and their lives and their one track concentration on the beauty of nature that gave them impetus to do research. over and above all that the author’s research of the researchers is much more impressive. Mammoth amount of research, knowledge and its impact on humanity is consolidated in one book. Amazing work.