The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson. This is a truly amazing book and perhaps (in a crowded field) the most important book I have read this year.
Jennifer is an American biochemist. Today she is Chair Professor in the department of chemistry and the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley and is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Jennifer is also the President and Chair of the board at the Innovative Genomics Institute, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, and an adjunct professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Jennifer Doudna is a rock star. Well Noble Prize winner rock star. And this book serves as inspiration for my daughter. No better example for any daughter to see that begin told what a girl cannot accomplish than to see how Jennifer literally hit it out of the park.
As this story reveals, Jennifer was in sixth grade when her father gave her a copy of James Watson’s book The Double Helix. This was her inspiration that would trigger her discoveries to understand DNA codes as a scientist.
Overcoming adversity
However, her bumps in the road continued. A high school counselor told Jennifer that girls do not become scientists….what an idiot. Jennifer (and another girl) Emmanuelle Charpentier crafted CRISPR, the DNA editing tool that enabled custom tools to cure diseases. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Two girls….the first two girls to be awarded the Nobel. I consider this one of the most important books that I have ever read as Jennifer pushed past the adversity in her life.
CRISPR
The development of CRISPR and the global race by our world’s top scientists to develop next generation vaccines including the coronavirus is, and even dearies in the future will certainly prove her work’s innovation. CRISPR has already proven to cure deadly diseases like sickle cell. At the same time, there is a revelation that a Chinese scientist used CRISPR to ‘custom code’ twin girls from acquiring HIV.
In conclusion, this book is Jennifer’s life story and serves as inspiration for all of us. In fact, I consider this book so important that IMHO every daughter should read this book with her father. Actually, every middle school should make this book mandatory reading. The background and story of CRISPR may in fact inspire those girls to not listen to the idiots, but rather bravely embrace their goals with Jennifer as inspiration.