Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution

Author: Doudna, Jennifer A

Edition: Illustrated

Format: Illustrated

Number Of Pages: 304

Details:

BY 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

Reviews:

Finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize One of Science News'

"Favorite Books of the Year"

“Fascinating . . . When people refer to CRISPR now, they talk about wiping out disease, resurrecting woolly mammoths, and fashioning designer babies. Such implications fascinate and torment Doudna, and she writes about them movingly with Samuel Sternberg, a biochemist and former research colleague, in A Crack in Creation.” —Bloomberg Businessweek

“The first book on CRISPR to present 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

"Fascinating . . . [ A Crack in Creation] contribute[s] to a public understanding of CRISPR, explaining science in terms that are understandable for the general reader."

— Wall Street Journal

"[ A Crack in Creation] opens with the stark observation that the revolution in gene editing launched by CRISPR 'offers both the greatest promise and, arguably, the greatest peril for the future of humanity.' The first half of the book is a history of CRISPR’s development and a lucid explication of how it works. The authors describe the electrifying atmosphere of a laboratory at the front edge of discovery, while generously distributing credit to the legion of scientists who preceded Doudna and Chapentier or have carried their work forward. . . . The book’s second half is an examination of CRISPR’s great potential to eliminate or cure disease and improve human existence in myriad ways, and of the perils it poses for humanity’s future."

— Los Angeles Times

“An enthusiastic and definitely not dumbed-down account of gene manipulation that, unlike earlier methods, is precise and easy...an important book about a major scientific advance.”

— Kirkus Reviews, STARRED

“Excellent . . . The authors describe the biological mechanisms in a way that nonspecialists can appreciate.”

— Publishers Weekly

"An essential start to educating the public . . . reveal[s] the complex, interlocking, and thoroughly international nature of today’s bioscience...CRISPR heralds a new era of massively increased human control over life, one that will affect every person on Earth, directly or indirectly, and much of the rest of our planet’s biosphere. If humans are to have any chance of harnessing its benefits, avoiding its risks, and using it in ways consistent wit...

EAN: 9781328915368

Release Date: 21-08-2018

Languages: English

Item Note: Great shape- pages are unmarked and sharp.Has a remainder mark. Paperback Used - Like New Ships fast! 2018Illustrated

Item Condition: UsedLikeNew

Binding: Paperback