The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

The Code Breaker

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

Author: Walter Isaacson

Genre: Nonfiction, Science, Biography

Format: Digital purchase

Publish Date: March 2021

Read: May 2024

Favorite Quote: The great promise of gene editing is that it will transform medicine. The peril is that it will widen the healthcare divide between rich and poor.

Synopsis: Jennifer Doudna realized “girls can do science” after reading The Double Helix by James Watson. Driven by a desire to understand the world, Doudna pursued her passion in the world of molecular biology and focused on RNA - DNA’s less understood counterpart. After competition and collaboration, Doudna unlocked some fascinating information about RNA and a new race began to discover how RNA could help with vaccine-delivery within the body. When COVID hit, former competitors became collaborators as the scientific world joined together to help create and deliver the vaccine through science that Doudna pioneered decades prior.

Why does this book beguile? The Code Breaker sat on my Kindle for a few years and I finally decided to read it. The author, Walter Isaacson, is highly regarded as one of the best biographers in the world today and I loved how he wove a story of related and seemingly unrelated events around the world over several decades to explore how the COVID vaccine was able to happen so quickly and effectively. The Code Breaker is intriguing and inspiring!

Rating: 4/5

Link*: The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

If you’re interested in this, read*: Outlive by Peter Attia