Editing Humanity

The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing

By: Kevin Davies

Narrated by: Kevin Davies

Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the world's leading experts on genetics unravels one of the most important breakthroughs in modern science and medicine.

If our genes are, to a great extent, destiny, then what would happen if mankind could engineer and alter the very essence of our DNA coding? Millions might be spared the devastating effects of hereditary disease or the challenges of disability. But this power to “play God” also raises major ethical questions and poses threats for potential misuse. For decades, these questions have lived exclusively in the realm of science fiction, but as Davies powerfully reveals in his new book, this is all about to change.

Engrossing and captivating, Editing Humanity takes listeners inside the fascinating world of a new gene editing technology called CRISPR, a high-powered genetic toolkit that enables scientists to not only engineer but to edit the DNA of any organism down to the individual building blocks of the genetic code. Davies introduces listeners to arguably the most profound scientific breakthrough of our time. He tracks the scientists on the front lines of its research to the patients whose powerful stories bring the narrative movingly to human scale. In so doing, Davies sheds light on the implications that this new technology will have on our everyday lives and in the lives of generations to come.

©2020 Kevin Davies (P)2020 Novel Audio

Excellent content, solid execution

Positives: Editing Humanity is a meticulously well-researched exposition of the ongoing "CRISPR Revolution" that has finally made genome editing practically feasible. The work provided an interesting coverage of both the early history of CRISPR as well as extremely recent developments and included interviews with scores of the brightest scientists in the field. The writing is solid, though not striking. Davies does roundly succeed in highlighting the significance of this fascinating new toolkit, and makes some of the scientist appear to be veritable titans. The narration by the author is great.

Negatives: The author has the occasionally-irritating habit of trying to force himself into the story, which is both distracting and oddly left me with the impression that he is a bit insecure. Examples include his observation that he used to be a good singer as a child, dropping again and again and again that he was Editor at Nature Genetics, and pointing out any comparison he could cook up with the central scientists of the story (usually having attended one of the same schools).

All told, I enjoyed listening to the text. I will likely recommend it to others interested in the field but am unlikely to rave about it to my lay friends. If the author is reading this: thank you for your incredible effort in writing and then narrating this book!!

Enlightening and filled with the ethical questions of the future

The scientific understanding and accuracy herein are phenomenal. You’ll want to read and re-read this until you understand it if you are at all interested in medicine and the prevention of human diseases.

So interesting!

I decided to look into CRISPR after the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the discovery of this new gene editing tool. This book is a very thorough account of CRISPR, and great insight into Charpentier and Doudna's journey, with an enjoyable storytelling narrative. If all this genome editing talk in the news has piqued your interest, I highly recommend giving this audiobook a listen.

Excellent

This was a very good read. I have previously read Walter Issacson’s book Code Breakers and while they cover much the same ground, I found that they complemented each other. Getting a different, even if often similar, sense of characters and and the science made north books more interesting to me.

I would characterize myself as a scientifically literate layman, and both those books hit a sweet spot of not being too hard to grasp but also above the overly simplified level of a lot science books aimed at an “average” audience.

While this book is a bit ‘dated’ in a works of rapidly advancing science it did not suffer in that regard which was a very pleasant finding for me.

My biggest criticism is the performance, but that is almost entirely due to pronunciation and I can certainly live with non-American pronunciation.

Brilliant and thought-provoking

Genome editing did not need Drs. Doudna and Charpentier's well-deserved Nobel win to validate it. Though fraught with potential for ethical abuse (something Davies attacks and parses fairly), CRISPR will seem to be one of those things that ends up changing lives and saving lives via "days of small things." Sickle cell and genetically adaptive crops, rare genetic disorders no longer causing families to suffer. While the birth of the "CRISPR babies" also made my stomach turn, I know that if I had a child suffering from the ravages of sickle cell, I would be first in line for treatment. Davies shows how the story of CRISPR is a human one--the scientists who have played a role in it's development over the years, the journalists who broke the news--with all their quirks, genius, and foibles. And he does not reduce Lulu and Nana—the babies born with genes edited by He Jianuki—to hashtags. These are real little girls and Davies tells their story with great humanity. A must-read to understand this scientific and medical innovation beyond hashtags and headlines.

Wonderfully written book

A highly recommended book to anyone who likes to know the current state of genetics, especially the advancements in CRISPR. You may need to have some basic knowledge of genetics and chemistry to enjoy the fullest. However, even if you ignore them you can still enjoy it very much.

CRISPR REVOLUTION

The famous philosopher Søren Kierkegaard advised “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” 

Kevin Davies reports the genie is out of the bottle with He Jiankui’s sloppy edit of genes in unborn twins.  Davies suggests science will move forward on gene modification to provide understanding Jiankui’s inept genetic experiment. With that forward movement, Davies implies human extinction will be delayed, extended, or ended by genome experimentation. Proof of Davies conclusion is in Britain's plan to create a government owned company to investigate genetic diseases and cancer in adults. The pilot project is to sequence the genomes of 200,000 babies according to a May 14th article in "The Economist".

Davies’s underlying point is that CRSPR is here and will not go away.  Experiment will continue whether condoned by government or not.  All species on earth have a finite life.  DNA modification is a fact, not just an idea.  It is here and will be used.  Science is grappling with rules to mitigate its potential downside while trying to insure its upside.  In the end, human survival will be decided by nature and the politics of control.

most important book you must read

Crispr is the most important invention of the 21st century it will cure every single possible and theoretical condition once we can run all possible permutations of genetic code in a deep learning algorithm we can effectively remove all disease and cancers forever. The pharmaceuticals will go bye bye forever, crispr is what electric cars is to oil companies. be ready for the Age of perfect humans.

A Comprehensive History of CRISPR

This book is a comprehensive and thoughtful treatment of the history of CRISPR and its societal implications. Because it is quite detailed and fairly long, I think it will be of greatest interest to those with a scientific or historical inclination.

great

If interested in the emerging fields of Bio-engineering and Bio-medicine or just new research this is a great listen