While I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found it absolutely fascinating...I also found it a tad bit unsettling. To think about what we could be doing with CRISPR in the next decade is both awesome and frightening. Recommended read.

Jennifer Doudna is an outstanding scientist who has worked on DNA, RNA, CRISPR, and their applications. Isaacson does an excellent job of connecting the development of molecular genetic from Darwin and Mendel through the present day. He illustrates the discrimination female scientists have experienced and continue to experience. The book seemed extremely timely given the COVID pandemic. It was an excellent blend of biography with the history of science and the influence of the natural world. I thank the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. As a science teacher who considered a career in genetic researcher I loved it.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy. This is the story of Jennifer Doudna, 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, RDNA and CRISPR gene editing technology. Science made easy. Isaacson gives us in easy and accessible language an almost detective story of biology and chemistry discovery. Timely book taking in account the current pandemic. A great and fascinating book to read. Highly recommended.

I loved this book! I’m a huge Isaacson fan and he did not disappoint here. He made very technical information easy to understand and it was so timely! I found myself explaining my vaccine as I got my shot to my nurse. Doudna is a real modern day hero and Isaacson painted this as mystery and suspense novel and made us appreciate the scientists and labs that were rushing to solve the CRISPR challenge. Wonderful book I have been recommending widely.

A fascinating and timely story about the life sciences revolution (specifically gene editing) and the Covid bomb that ignited a community already poised at the brink of discovery — all told through the biographical lens of recent Nobel winner Jennifer Doudna.

Isaacson is a skilled biographer and synthesizer. He has an unsurpassed ability to explain very complex concepts in accessible terms. I’ve read four of his books and have been impressed by his ability to explain well things I already know (Steve Jobs and computers) and things in which I have little background and zero aptitude (Leonardo Da Vinci and 15th century art). His descriptions of CRISPR (DNA sequences that enable the gene editing at the heart of the book) and the myriad ways it was discovered, applied, and deployed do not disappoint. What I liked best? You actually feel the zing of scientific discovery as he describes the evolution of gene editing tools and techniques and the researchers who made it happen.

Getting to know the researchers was almost as interesting as learning the science — to the point where Jennifer Doudna — while thoroughly admirable — did not have a personality that eclipsed the other players, making it feel less like a biography and more like a community portrait. Every one of the key contributors was profiled in a succinct but insightful way: James Watson of DNA discovery fame (more on him later); Harvard Medical School geneticist George Church (who felt trapped in the present when he should be in the future); Doudna’s co-Nobelist and co-discoverer of the CRISPR/Cas9 “genetic scissors” the peripatetic Emmanuelle Charpentier who likes to keep herself on edge and not get too comfy; Feng Zhang — credited (but bitterly contested) with applying CRISPR to the human genome; and the many, many additional researchers pursuing careers in the field.

In addition to the science and the scientists, Isaacson spends a fair amount of time on the aspects of commercialization including the competition between academics resulting in sometimes bitter patent battles on rights regarding various facets of the technology and its applications. In contrast, he also gives plenty of air play to the wealth of technologies born of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic covering how the community was poised to act and the incredible bureaucracy and what strings had to be pulled to get through it (and who had the clout to pull those strings). Also included is a pretty comprehensive description of the requirements and applied innovations to virus detection, vaccination, and treatment. I actually feel much calmer about covid having read the book.

Lastly, Isaacson devoted a lot of time and discussion to the question of ethics — a topic I always enjoy. Ethical questions such as safety and unintended consequences, the tradeoff between individual needs and the needs of society, the potential widening of the privilege gap, and the potential impact on human diversity if we allow people free choice on gene selection for offspring. Isaacson inserted a lot of his own ideas into this section and I can’t say I agreed with everything he said, though he did fairly include multiple viewpoints. He appeared to conflate (as people often do) genius with debilitating problems — pointing to Van Gogh (mental illness) and Miles Davis (sickle cell anemia) as examples where a change to their genetic structure might alleviate their suffering but hamper their creative output — a loss to society as a whole. He (again, as most people do) also firmly yoked diversity to physical characteristics instead of a wide range of personality, opinion, intelligences etc. There appears to a strong fear that if left to their own devices, *everyone* would choose to have blonde haired, blue eyed children. Also — nobody *ever* seems to bring up the ethical question of parents making decisions for their as-yet-unborn children! I have more strong opinions on this chapter but I encourage you to read it yourself!

I have a few other issues with the book — Isaacson seems to insert himself into the action more often than I thought necessary and spent a little longer than I liked on a somewhat sensationalized version of the patent wars. He also loudly supported our new “cancel culture” with his full chapter treatise on James Watson’s fall from grace due to unpopular racial remarks. I’m a big believer in a free electorate who must be trusted to think for themselves and not in favor of shutting down people who have beliefs different from my own (no matter how distasteful). Controlling people’s freedom of expression is really a bad move for a free society, regardless of how much we each wish we could get the other side to shut up!

Still — small annoyances aside — this is a fully engaging book about a fascinating topic told in an accessible manner and covering one of the key turning points of human civilization — so go buy it today and read it!

This is certainly a book for the moment. Respected author, Walter Isaacson, profiles not only Nobel award winner, Jennifer Doudna, but other scientists who have been cracking the genetic code for some decades now. Within their explorations, looking at how bacteria have developed to fend off viral attacks over the millennia informed their search for a vaccine against viruses in humans. For those who are vaccine hesitant because they feel the Covid-19 vaccine was "rushed", read this book and see the years of research that led to the vaccines that could lead us out of this pandemic. Mr. Isaacson unspools the story with clear scientific explanations that even a lay reader and non-scientist can understand. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

If you’ve always wanted to learn more about DNA, human genomes and how science is done but just thought it too dry and boring, this is the book for you. Walter Isaacson has a knack for bringing out the interesting facts and simplifying the complicated. The book begins with anecdotes from Jennifer Doudna’s childhood interspersed with a quick, but thorough history of scientific discoveries leading up to Doudna’s work on CRISPR - a method for genome editing. It continues to discuss the role Doudna and CRSPR technology played in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is a great insight into how scientific discoveries are layered through history - one discovery cannot exist without previous findings - and the personalities of the humans involved.

Walter Isaacson does NOT disappoint with his meticulously researched narrative on the journey from DNA to RNA to CRISPR, and the village of scientists that made it happen. While this novel centered mostly around Dr. Jennifer Doudna and her contributions to gene editing - Walter Isaacson did not focus directly on her (dissimilar to his past biographies on Da Vinci & Jobs ). Because of that, this book felt less like a biography on Doudna specifically, and more like a history of how gene editing came into fruition and the medical advances that have occurred because of it. Despite this, the story was fascinating, wonderfully written and easy to absorb - I found myself swept away and grateful for all of the incredible and insatiably curious scientific minds who worked on finding ways to implement gene editing for the greater good. Thanks to the publisher, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. Would definitely recommend!

I usually love Walter Isaacson's biographies. I'm glad I read this one, but it wasn't one of my favorites by Mr. Isaacson. I understand explaining the science these two extraordinary women accomplished is necessary, however, it made the book extremely difficult to follow. I'm all for reading about important, strong women. Often I don't understand or agree with their methods, but I admire the women for their accomplishments. I was able to admire these individuals without understanding the science. Unfortunately, I found that I skimmed through a lot of this book, due to lack of understanding about genetics and chemistry. All in all, I give it 3.5 stars.

This is the latest from Walter Isaacson whose limitless interest in so many subjects results in exceedingly well researched and interesting biographies. I must admit finding that the quirky personalities he includes more interesting than the actual science writing which was so far over my head, it was totally inaccessible to me. Yet, the personality of Jennifer Doudna, which occupies the central position, was fascinating, and I'm glad I read it.

3.5 stars

Until 2020, only five women, beginning with Marie Curie in 1911, had won a Nobel for chemistry. But 2020 was the year it went to two women, Jennifer Doudna and French colleague Emmanuelle Charpentier, for the development of CRISPR, a gene editing technology.

Isaacson hones in on Doudna and Charpentier, but he also highlights others in the scientific community whose work led the way and contributed to this new discovery. Some of the more interesting chapters deals with biohackers, rivalries, patents, and the personality quirks of the major players, as well as the use of the current technology and it’s ethical implications.

With the interesting bits, there was a very heavy emphasis on the science. Too heavy in my opinion. I have a degree in science and still found myself skimming through some of the more dense material. I fear that due to this unfortunate tendency of the author’s, this book will hold limited appeal. In addition, there’s a lot of repetition with the same information and stories told over and over. Finally, the author tends to insert himself into the narrative too much, adding little value.

For the above reasons I would recommend this book only with reservations. I’m glad I read it, but I think it would be an even more powerful book had it been condensed and edited.

But onto more of the good….

With the Covid-19 pandemic, the significance of CRISPR is more vital than ever. This is the technology that was used to develop Covid tests and more importantly, the Covid vaccine, which was developed so quickly because the groundwork for it was already in place after decades of research. Instead of the usual competition and closely guarded work, there was global cooperation. It was encouraging to see rivalries set aside in the midst of a global health crisis.

Along with the usefulness of this technology in fighting Covid, these scientific advances comes ethical questions. Few would argue developing the use of gene editing to treat or prevent diseases such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, Tay-Sachs, Huntington’s chorea, cystic fibrosis, and mental illness. But where do we draw the line and who gets to choose where that line is? Should parents be able to choose the gender, skin color, height, and intelligence, along with other ‘desirable” traits of their children? Would we eliminate the diversity and traits that have led to the genius of Einstein, Mozart, Isaac Newton, Michelangelo, Steve Jobs, Tolstoy? We aren’t there quite yet, but there’s already differences of opinion. These are the questions that future generations will have to answer and consider the implications.

This book highlights the importance of scientific inquiry, research, and the practical real-world use of these advances. No one could have predicted how the world would be impacted in 2020/21 from the discoveries of DNA, mRNA, and CRISPr. Science has always been a collaboration that endures through the ages, from Darwin and Mendel to Watson and Crick to Doudna and Charpentier.

“At the end of the day, the discoveries are what endure,” Charpentier says. “We are just passing on this planet for a short time. We do our job, and then we leave and others pick up the work.”

I hope this book will inspire and encourage more young women to go into the sciences, specifically research.

3.5 stars: 5+ stars for the science community, including Doudna and Charpentier. 2 stars for the extraneous information in telling the story.

I have loved all the three books that I was fortunate enough to read by Walter Issacson from Einstein, The Innovators, to Steve Job, this author was able to enthrall me with the main topics he chose to share and write of. However, sad to say, his new book on Jennifer Doudna entitled The Code Breaker really left me feeling disappointed and let down. Wondering why this was, I will preface this that there was a huge amount of science, very technical science which did bog down the story. Now, I do realize the importance of this science particularly as we are combating a pandemic, but at times I felt the author tried to immerse himself inferring how smart he was to truly understand and compete with these scientists and researchers. I certainly am not saying that Issacson is not a brilliant man, but his repetition of sections of the tale often made for that horrid boredom to set in.

The other thing that annoyed me by the end was that I knew nothing about Dr Doudna, a winner with her former coworker of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2020. Her finding of the CRISPR-Cas9 , along with its cofounder, Emmanuelle Marie Charpentier, opened up brand-new avenues that science can readily travel into a "brave" new world, one where genetically modified DNA was shown and where both the biology, chemistry, engineering, and ethics come into play. I learned much about the science and Jennifer's education, but little of the women. I wanted to be let in on her home life. How did he balance all she did, the research, the traveling, the supervision of many with the demands of being a wife and a mother? We got a brief look into her formative years but I wanted more. How did she relate to her siblings and what exactly was her relationship with her father? (it was hinted at that there were some issues there) In reality, I was looking for the personal to be the main thrust of the book.

It's a long story, where a plethora of scientists, doctoral students, post-doctoral candidates, engineers and so forth are presented and it's not that I think these men and women do not deserve their moments, but it tended to cloudy up the telling.

In all, it takes commitment to read this book and I have a feeling that its reception will not be the one that this author has received previously in his wonderful works. Sad to say, this is not something I would heartily recommend and one I would caution the reader to be ready to be at times overwhelmed and needing a pause in its reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book due out March 9, 2021.

Isaacson is our premiere contemporary biographer and he does not fail to live up to that well-earned moniker in his newest book, The Code Breaker. This biography of Chemistry Nobelist Jennifer Doudna, is really the biography of CRISPR and the many people who collaborated - and competed - to identify, develop, and exploit its capabilities. Isaacson gives us an expansive story, one that explains in terms that readers with very modest - if any - science education can understand, the science, the necessary collaborations, and the competition among labs as they race to become the first to publish and the first to be awarded patents. He engages the reader in questions such as those involving the commercialization of basic research findings and those involving the ethics of using CRISPR technologies to cure diseases such as Sickle Cell Anemia or those that must be engaged around altering germlines to cause certain afflictions to be uninheritable, or those that swirl around the prospect of creating future human beings with specific traits and appearances. Finally, he brings the reader back to the present set of activities in which Doudna and her colleagues are engaged to test for and control and eliminate COVID-19 and, by implication, similar diseases that will arise in the future. Isaacson's writing is engaging and although the book is long, I didn't want it to end. Doudna is only in her late 50s; she continues to operate a productive lab, to mentor PhD students and postdocs, and to be engaged in commercial activities; she has emerged as a thought leader of importance. There will be much material to draw on for a second biography. Whoever tackles that in however many decades from now will have a very high standard to meet or exceed that which Isaacson set in this book. .

If you have any interest in science at all, you've probably heard about CRISPR technology, but as it is a very recent discovery, there are not many books on this topic. In "Code Breaker" you will find all the details about this exciting discovery and its aftermath. I think that is the most interesting aspect of this book, however, it does not entirely justify its volume.

Of course also interesting is the story of the book's heroine, Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna. There are still too few women in science, so I am always happy with celebrating their accomplishments and creating role models for girls.

Alas, I am not a fan of Walter Isaacson's style. I've found this biography too dry and superficial. I couldn’t imagine prof. Doudna as a real, alive human being nor understand how exactly her work looks like. It's a pity because I am truly interested in science and I love reading about the realities of lab work. Nonetheless, I think that people who liked previous books of this author will find this one also to their liking.

Thanks to the publisher, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

First of all, Walter Isaacson is the master of writing biographies that are interesting, easy to understand, and make for an enjoying reading experience. I LOVED his book about Steve Jobs, and though his books are loooong, I can’t seem to put them down.

I was a little hesitant that The Code Breaker was going to be over my head. In it, Isaacson introduces us to Jennifer Doudna, the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize winner for her efforts in discovering ways to fight diseases of all kinds, but especially the coronavirus. While it was very science-y at times, Isaacson made sure I was never entirely lost and I’m surprised at how much I actually feel like I gained in terms of scientific information. The discoveries set forth in this book are life-changing for all of humanity and it was quite interesting to read about.

When I picked this book up, I wanted to supplement a book I read at the end of 2020, Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live by Nicholas A. Christakis. That book gave me a good sense of how coronovirus developed and spread around the world, whereas The Code Breaker helped me understand the way scientist are trying to fight back against the virus. By now, we’re all aware that the vaccine developed to fight off COVID-19 uses new technology that hasn’t ever been used before, and that was also a huge motivating factor in my wanting to read this book. It talks a great deal about this new medical advancement, so if you’re curious in any way about that, I highly recommend you read this book!

I am always in such awe of scientists and their incredible minds. My brain just doesn’t work in a science-y (or mathematical) way. Even when things are explained in rudimentary terms, my mind is still too blown away to grasp what is being said (ie: the concept of infinity…whaaaaaat?).

The biggest complaint I have about this book is its focus on a whole cast of characters! While I know they’re all central to the story of Doudna and her discoveries, I’m not sure the in-depth look into some of it was entirely necessary. For this reason, the book didn’t read as submersively as Steve Jobs’ book did, but I still highly recommend if this is a topic that even remotely interests you!

Isaacson is a biographer’s biographer and THE CODE BREAKER shows why his books totally absorb us. He has a way of revealing absorbing truth about his subjects — in this case, biochemist and gene scientist Jennifer Doudna, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize for the revolutionary DNA-editing tool called CRISPR.

Jennifer’s father gave her a copy of The Double Helix when she was six, sparking her keen interest in gene research. Later its author, James Watson, said her CRISPR development was “the most important biological advance since his co-discovery of the structure of DNA.”

I can only say, “Thank you!” to Jennifer as she races to apply her work to eliminating disease and viruses that include COVID. Her life is a triumph. So is THE CODE BREAKER!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 09 Mar 2021
#TheCodeBreaker #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I just reviewed The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson. #NetGalley.

Walter Isaacson writes very special biographies. He tells the life stories of others by not only describing the ways to peoples accomplishments and the milestone of their achievements, but with a lot of background on the actual sciences and its impact to society.

It may be a little early to tell the story of Jennifer Doudna and the group that made gene editing happen, as in her late 50s, her story will certainly continue to be told. On the other hand, the story is urgent and current as she just has been awared the Nobel Price in Chemistry in 2020 and works on the forefront fighting the Covid-19 outbreak impacting all our lives.

Isaacsons view on Jennifer Doudna is on the impact she has on our lives, just like he did with Einstein, Steve Jobs and Leonardo DaVinci. An important part of history, this one still in the making!

“Why else do we do science? We do it to go after big questions and take on risks. If you don’t try things, you’re never going to have a breakthrough.”

[Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the exciting opportunity to review a Walter Isaacson biography before its release.] I have been intrigued by Isaacson’s meticulous research, narrative writing, and the ability to portray his subjects in a complex yet feeling way ever since I read his book on da Vinci. These same talents are apparent in “The Code Breaker.” Though I find gene research and the future of gene editing technology fascinating, I admit that some of these concepts can be hard to follow. Luckily, Isaacson carefully spells out the science starting from the basics of DNA, RNA, and enzymes, leading the reader from one scientific breakthrough to the next, including the discovery and implementation of CRISPR.

Isaacson portrays Jennifer Doudna as a fascinating, driven, and highly-respected figure in the scientific community. I enjoyed following Doudna’s journey through her academic career and her foray into the business world. I also admired Doudna’s ideal to help change the world for the better; the possibility of diseases and viruses becoming eliminated through gene-editing is a stupendous breakthrough in science and human history. With the current state of the world, of course, the significance of CRISPR is more vital than ever. Though Doudna is the focus of this biography, I appreciated the fact that Isaacson took the time to review other individuals in the CRISPR field, including Doudna’s competitors and former colleagues.
Perhaps my favorite part of the book was the section that deals with the moral implications of gene editing. As Isaacson reflects, there is a difference between editing genes for treatment/prevention of diseases and enhancing them to produce desirable traits (eye color, height, intelligence, and so forth). At what point do we draw the line, and who decides if there is a line that cannot be crossed? I enjoyed Isaacson's reflections on the diversity of human nature, and the positives of qualities that are often seen as detrimental (for instance, his argument that mental illnesses can lead to astounding creativity and works of art, such as in the case of Van Gogh). Would eliminating mental illness from the human gene pool, Isaacson asks, deprive the world of potential Van Goghs? How much diversity and potential would we lose if we eradicated "less desirable" genes? Moreover, do we have the right to “play God”? Could gene editing lead to a loss of empathy and humility? While this is a fascinating thought experiment, it is also astounding to think that future generations may have to answer these questions and face their implications.

At its core, this book is about creativity, innovation, collaboration, and competition. It illustrates humanity’s trials and endeavors to unravel the mysteries of nature – and to manipulate the very code of nature for the benefit of our species.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

The title "The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race" is a bit misleading as the story is about a lot more than Doudna. It is an an interesting deep dive into the past, present and the future of gene editing told as only Walter Isaacson could. Great one volume for (almost) anything you would want to know about gene editing.

On the downside, however, the book sometimes goes on long sidebars. About 2/3rds of the way into the book, the author almost catches up with the present times but then digresses onto other topics before wrapping up with COVID and the attempts to create a vaccine for it.

Also, don't fret if you were not aware of the fact that the author also wrote a book on Steve Jobs. He brings it up far too many times in the book.

"One fundamental aspect of science will remain the same. It has always been a collaboration across generations, from Darwin and Mendel to Watson and Crick to Doudna and Charpentier."

I simply have no words to express how much I loved this amazing and historically recorded book. Walter Isaacson! Sir, you have such a diverse taste in science, arts and literature.

The books narrates in a story-like manner, the journey from DNA to RNA and from RNA to CRISPR. Science has never ceased to amaze mankind, and it never will. Being once related very closely to science, I thought I always stay updated with the ongoing research. But how wrong I was. This book uncovers, peel after peel, the wonders each lab, each scientist has performed to make it possible. This past decade changes a lot for the mankind.

"This year's [Nobel] prize is about rewriting the code of life." How beautiful. And how magical. This book has been so much to me; a refresher course of molecular biology, a reminder of my love for pipettes and PCR. It took me back to the confusion of repeating an experiment and taking an innovation as an error...getting published, waiting for reviewers comments, learning that we finally are a step ahead, that eureka moment.

I would recommend this book to all those who love biology, science or even love mankind.
❤