Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


A Potpourri of Gene-Editing Perspectives

The Mutant Project: Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans by Eben Kirksey

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Earlier this summer, I started reading and reviewing a number of books related to gene technology with a specific focus on CRISPR. This was not just for my own enjoyment; I’m teaching a class on Gene Technology this winter so I thought I better brush up on everything. And since I’ve been asked to attract as many non-majors as possible, I’ve decided not to focus on just the technical aspects, but also the social and legal aspects as well. This brings us to the next […]

Why You Shouldn’t Cut-and-Paste a Genome Like a Word Document

CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans by Henry T. Greely

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I made quick promise at the end of my review of Gene: An Intimate History, that I would be reviewing a number of books about a certain individual who wanted to ‘win’ the gene editing arms race. And how very reckless he was. That man, of course is Hè Jiànkuí. This is the man who tried—and succeeded—in inducing heritable CRISPR-mediated genome modifications in human embryos that then resulted in live births. Hank Greely’s CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans is a rather […]

Professional Science Gets Ugly

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson

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Bingo 4: People In addition to the cover being of a person, this is also a book about people on several levels, down to the genetics. On the surface it’s the biography of one of the winners of the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Jennifer Doudna for her work with the CRISPR. The thing is, that’s actually not totally accurate. This book is also an introduction to bio-engineering and general molecular biology, an expose on academic science world and how it’s shifted to more business […]



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