A Crack in Creation
by Jennifer A. Doudna
& Samuel H. Sternberg
If you’re looking for a simple explanation of how CRISPR and
other forms of gene editing work, what they are capable of and what they
aren’t, you’ll find it here, and straight from the horse’s mouth at that.
There’s also a great deal of discussion about the social, ethical and
evolutionary issues involved with manipulation of the human germline. I found
that part of the book rather boring, I’m afraid, having heard it all before.
Anyone paying attention has heard it all by now.
Indeed, if you really have been paying attention, you may notice a yawning gap in this book. This concerns another CRISPR pioneer, Feng Zhang, whose work at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT was also critical to the development of CRISPR gene editing, but whom Doudna and her colleagues apparently regard as competitors for recognition. Of course, that kind of thing is hardly unknown among academics.
Indeed, if you really have been paying attention, you may notice a yawning gap in this book. This concerns another CRISPR pioneer, Feng Zhang, whose work at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT was also critical to the development of CRISPR gene editing, but whom Doudna and her colleagues apparently regard as competitors for recognition. Of course, that kind of thing is hardly unknown among academics.
The writing is lucid and works hard to meet the reader more
than halfway, but it is also generic, slick and affectless. I recognized many
of the tricks American professional authors employ: my guess is that a ghostly
hack was present in addition to the two scientists identified as co-authors.
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