The book was to include information on the NSA and, according to Bamford, the agency attempted to stop its publication. Interestingly, while these scientists are undeniably super smart and can solve a Rubik’s Cube in mere seconds, in many ways they are also like toddlers wanting to be looked at and noticed.

Book Review: ‘The Code Breaker,’ by Walter Isaacson - The New Book Review: ‘The Code Breaker,’ by Walter Isaacson - The New

One area where I feel the book falls short is in emphasizing personal stories at the expense of explaining the science thoroughly. The moral dilemmas CRISPR brings are large, and the book appropriately spends a lot of time on them. When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. When Jinek showed Doudna his data demonstrating that you could program Cas9 with different guide RNAs to cut DNA wherever you desired, they actually paused and looked at each other. Putting a practical need for alliances aside, intellectual property disputes and competition for patents and prizes made for an interesting and sometimes even thrilling journey throughout The Code Breaker.

She credits Jack for sharing his guiding principle: Never do something that a thousand other people are doing. Isaacson puts a lot of onus on the trait of curiosity across all his biologies (Steve Jobs, Leonardo Da Vinci, etc). Because besides ethical nightmares and gentlemen- and gentlewomen's agreements not to cross certain lines, those lines have been and are being crossed.

The Breakers, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island - Book Tickets The Breakers, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island - Book Tickets

I found the moral and ethical arguments regarding the use of gene editing incredibly interesting and they are explored in-depth throughout. It’s that excitement that this book can instill in even general readers for the promise of CRISPR-related tech and for science in general that I regard as The Code Breaker’s biggest success. I was more excited about CRISPR back in those days so my review contains more discussion of the details. Bradford Hardie III, an American cryptographer during World War II, contributed insider information, German translations from original documents, and intimate real-time operational explanations to The Codebreakers. While somatic gene editing gets a pass with me until I can be convinced otherwise, germline editing - inheritable changes made through reproductive cells - on the other hand, has me in full-force hypervigilance mode.There are biohackers taking this open source technology and doing things with it such as one who experimented and altered traits of a frog. Some old guys, like this Polish fellow I sometimes encounter in the park while walking my dog, are delightful human beings. There's a specific sequence for athleticism found in many marathon runners so parents may want faster, stronger -- whatever. He is very good at providing the background necessary to grasp the historic implications while keeping the reader engaged. It has always been a collaboration across generations, from Darwin and Mendel to Watson and Crick and Franklin to Doudna and Charpentier.