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    Summary of The Code Breaker By Walter Isaacson
    Summary of The Code Breaker By Walter Isaacson
    Summary of The Code Breaker By Walter Isaacson
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    Summary of The Code Breaker By Walter Isaacson

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    A chapter-by-chapter high-quality summary of Walter Isaacson ́s book The Code Breaker including chapter details and an analysis of the main themes of the original book.
    About the original book:
    Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade when she returned home one day to find a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She set it aside, thinking it was one of her favorite detective stories. On a rainy Saturday, she read it and realized she was partially correct. She got intrigued by the dramatic drama surrounding the competition to uncover the code of life as she hurried through the pages. Despite the fact that her high school counselor informed her that females did not become scientists, she wanted to pursue it nevertheless.

    She would contribute to what the book's author, James Watson, described as the greatest important biological development since his codiscovery of the structure of DNA. She was driven by a desire to understand how nature works and to transform findings into innovations. She and her coworkers converted a natural interest into an innovation that will change the human race: a simple tool for editing DNA. CRISPR, as it's known, ushered forth a brand new world of medical wonders and ethical dilemmas.

    CRISPR's advancement and the rush to find coronavirus vaccinations will expedite our transition to the next big technological revolution. The microchip, computer, and internet have all contributed to the digital age of the last half-century. We are now in the midst of a life-science revolution. Children interested in digital coding will be joined by those interested in genetic coding.

    Should we exploit our new evolution-hacking abilities to make ourselves more virus resistant? What a fantastic gift it would be! What about depression prevention? Hmmm... Should we let parents improve their children's height, muscular mass, or IQ if they can afford it?

    Doudna became a trailblazer in grappling with these moral dilemmas after helping to discover CRISPR, and she earned the Nobel Prize in 2020 with her partner Emmanuelle Charpentier. Her narrative is described as an "enthralling detective story" (Oprah Daily) including the deepest natural wonders, from the beginnings of life to the destiny of our species.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherC.B. Publishers
    Release dateJul 16, 2022
    ISBN9781005694234
    Summary of The Code Breaker By Walter Isaacson

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      Summary of The Code Breaker By Walter Isaacson - Condensed Books

      Copyright

      Condensed Books

      Summary of The Code Breaker

      © 2021, Condensed Books

      Self-published

      This is an unofficial summary of The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, designed to enrich your reading experience.

      All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or retransmitted, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher; except for brief quotes used in connection in reviews written for inclusion in a magazine or newspaper.

      This ebook is licensed for your enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your copy."

      Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred to within this publication are the property of their respective trademark holders. These trademark holders are not affiliated with us and they do not sponsor or endorse our publications.

      This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by the aforementioned interests or any of their licensees.

      The information in this book has been provided for educational and entertainment purposes only.

      The information contained in this book has been compiled from sources deemed reliable and itis accurate to the best of the Author's knowledge; however, the Author can not guarantee its accuracy and validity and cannot be held liable for any errors or omissions. Upon using the information contained in this book, you agree to hold harmless the author from and against any damages, costs, and expenses, including any legal fees, potentially resulting from the application of any of the information provided by this guide. The disclaimer applies to any damages or injury caused by the use and application, whether directly or indirectly, of any advice or information presented, whether for breach of contract, tort, neglect, personal injury, criminal intent, or under any other cause of action. You agree to accept all risks of using the information presented inside this book. The fact that an individual or organization is referred to in this document as a citation or source of information does not imply that the author or publisher endorses the information that the individual or organization provided. This is an unofficial summary analytical review and has not been approved by the original author of the book.

      OVERVIEW

      The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, by historian and writer Walter Isaacson, is a profile on 2020 Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna as well as an outline of the genetic editing frontiers.

      The Code Breaker, which was published in 2021 and debuted at number one on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list, was one of the year's most anticipated nonfiction publications in science. The book's focus on the importance of gene-editing technologies like CRISPR in combating viral pandemics like COVID-19 made it particularly timely. Isaacson, a former Time editor, is also the author of the best-selling book Steve Jobs (2011).

      SUMMARY

      Beginning with the discovery of the principles of evolution and heredity, The Code Breaker is a story about the science of genetic editing. It principally centers on Jennifer Doudna, who, along with French researcher Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 for their development of the gene-editing tool CRISPR.

      Though the book focuses on Doudna, Isaacson also pays honor to the many other scientists who helped her achieve her goals. CRISPR has enormous potential as a disease-curing technique, but the ethical implications of making gene-editing available on the open market should be carefully explored.

      Doudna became an eager student of nature as a child growing up in Hawaii. As a 12-year-old, she was drawn to chemistry and genetics after reading James Watson's The Double Helix. Watson's description of his Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA is called The Double Helix.

      The great chemist Rosalind Franklin, whose work Watson's team hijacked, was portrayed in The Double Helix, which Doudna enjoyed as a mystery thriller. Doudna saw Franklin's example as proof that women could be scientists.

      Doudna and her husband Jamie Cate, who holds a degree in chemistry, found a home at the University of California, Berkeley. Andrew, the couple's only child, was born soon after. Doudna was particularly interested in deciphering the structure of biological substances.

      Before a molecule's function could be understood, Doudna thought that its structure had to be thoroughly seen. RNA, the underappreciated brother of superstar DNA, piqued her interest more than any other molecule.

      At a meeting in 2011, Doudna met Emmanuelle Charpentier, a French microbiologist. The two ladies decided to investigate how CRISPR, a virus-fighting technique used by bacteria, worked. Bacteria copy a piece of an invading virus's code into their own genetic sequence. If the virus resurfaces, bacteria will detect it and kill it using these spacer sequences.

      The CRISPR complex includes three important components, according to scientists, including Charpentier: crRNA (CRISPR RNA), which carries some of the virus's genetic code; tracrRNA, which encourages the formation of crRNA; and a class of enzymes known as Cas, or CRISPR-associated enzymes.

      The precise mechanism of the three-component system was discovered by Doudna and Charpentier. The crRNA directs the complex to a similar DNA sequence; the tracrRNA, which makes the crRNA, hooks onto the DNA as a handle; and the Cas enzyme slices up the DNA with scissors.

      This method was a life-saving hack for people fighting viral infections. CRISPR's promise, though, goes well beyond viruses: it might be used to eradicate tumors in human cells, making it a really historic finding.

      The results of Doudna and Charpentier were published in the journal Science in 2012, gaining their instant recognition. However, about the same time, Harvard Medical School's George Church and the Broad Institute at MIT-Feng Harvard's Zhang were also working on CRISPR systems.

      Soon after, the three organizations became embroiled in a fierce battle for patents to utilize CRISPR in human cells, with Zhang and Doudna fighting over patents to use CRISPR in human cells. Despite the fact that Zhang was eventually given the patent, Doudna's team was later successful in a parallel claim.

      CRISPR may be employed as a gene-editing technique in the germline or reproductive cells, creating alterations that can be inherited, in addition to treating disorders like sickle cell anemia. The CCR5 gene, for example, maybe deactivated in embryonic cells to remove HIV, as George Church demonstrated.

      The concept of gene editing in germline cells, on the other hand, is exceedingly divisive. Is it possible to utilize it to eradicate a gene for low stature, for example, from a family line? Is that a good idea? The prospect of CRISPR-enabled gene editing in humans first worried Doudna because it may be exploited as a weapon of bioterrorism.

      She began working on CRISPR-neutralizing mechanisms with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Entity (DARPA), a federal agency. While scientists argued the ethics of gene editing, another scientist caught everyone off guard.

      He Jiankui altered the CCR5 gene in HIV-positive father and HIV-free mother twin embryos in 2018. In November 2018, the first genetically modified babies were born in China, shocking the scientific community. The main criticism of Jiankui's modifications was that they were unnecessary because HIV transmission from parent to kid may be prevented in other ways. Jiankui was later imprisoned for his efforts and barred from doing biotechnology research.

      Despite Jiankui's efforts, there is no worldwide prohibition on gene editing in germline cells. However, discussions over the ethics of gene editing are still ongoing. CRISPR is such a simple and versatile technology that it can even be used to improve genetics. Biohackers like Josiah Zayner are already attempting to make CRISPR kits freely available. A frog's muscles may be grown using one of these kits, which are accessible online.

      This has prompted a slew of questions, including what would happen if the technology fell into the wrong hands, whether people should be able to edit their embryos to create perfect babies, whether removing disease and suffering genes would reduce human empathy, and whether Van Gogh's masterpieces would have been created if his genome had been edited for mental illness.

      These are crucial and relevant topics to which Isaacson admits he does not have solutions. Feng Zhang, who worries that the pricey technique would simply exacerbate social injustice if affluent parents are able to buy their children better DNA, is perhaps the most significant critic of gene-editing.

      Unlike Zhang, Doudna is more positive about the future of gene editing. Despite her initial visceral horror at the prospect of developing a future Frankenstein's toolkit, she has come to feel that CRISPR's life-saving potential trumps its risks. A gene-editing cure would be a godsend for someone suffering from a crippling disease like Huntington's disease, in which the muscles progressively die.

      Doudna was foresighted in his assessment of the need for gene-editing technologies. When the coronavirus epidemic hit the world in 2020, laboratories like Doudna's and Zhang's started working on CRISPR-based diagnostic tools right away. When such tests become generally available, they might revolutionize virus identification and the development of CRISPR-based antiviral treatments and vaccines. Because Covid-19 is unlikely to be the final pandemic of our lifetime, gene-editing that renders humans virus-resistant is urgently needed.

      Isaacson supports Doudna's cautious approach. He feels that developments in gene editing should continue, but with safeguards in place. Scientists will have to work with humanists to achieve this. Isaacson

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