Hacking the Code of Life: How gene editing will rewrite our futures (Hot Science) Paperback – June 11, 2019

A readable, intelligent and informative book. Despite not having a technical or medical background, the bookwas helpful in understanding the history and potential future of gene editing. The prologue begins withthe birth of two Chinese girls, Lulu and Nana on 11/28/18. Professor He Jiankui, (born 1984) was thefirst to edit the DNA of infants that, if either becomes child bearing, will be the first to pass on their edited genes, quite controversial! The author skillfully details the ease of gene editing, the inherent dangers and profound profit opportunities. Previously I have read, 'A Crack in Creation' by Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg and 'The Gene' by Siddhartha Mukherjee, of course, struggling to comprehend all of the information in each book. There are many reasons to read this thoughtful book. My next book to read is this book again!

Nessa Carey is an AMAZING writer, what makes her so incredible is that she lays out textbook concepts and ideas in simple layman's terms. Epigenetics and Junk DNA were amazing because they are basically parts of a molecular biology textbook that has been rewritten to be both interesting and fun. However, this one in particular was both SIGNIFICANTLY dumbed down for a general audience and only a pathetic 150 pages or so: thats an article not a book. you wont learn anything specific or advanced about the crispr cas system. You wont get any of her interesting british style commentary on scientific methods, and in fact, you will get portions of the book that seemed to have been copied and pasted from her last books.. If you want to learn about molecular biology please read her other two great books.

Definitely an informative book. Brings everyone up to date (as much as is possible in a fast moving field such as this can be done in a published book). The author shoots straight on a variety of topics within the field of gentic editing. Includes many examples in an assortment of areas such as plant life, insects, reptiles, mammals and of course humans - where DNA editing has already been successfully used. Sometimes with good and sometimes with not so good results. A must read for those of us who are interested in this field but can't or don't want to wade through all the technical jargon in Cell. The future of DNA editing is exciting and somewhat alarming but I'm sure Carey will keep us all posted on a regular basis. 👍

A disappointment as I expected a level of detail equal to her previous book. No doubt publisher asked her to dumb things down for a wider audience. That said, mostly up to date and written in a refreshing and accessible style.

Very clear writing in a casual style. Surprisingly comprehensive for a mere 160 pages of text. Applications of gene editing in many areas are described. Highly recommended.

As a non-scientist I was able to understand Crispr. It was fascinating! I loved it.

Was great my college required this book. Glad I was able to get it via amazon

Bunch of subjective biased opinions. Criticizing FDA and China on subjective assumptions. Doesn’t even talk about basics of CRISPR technology.

Seriously questionable info in this book given that the author refers to RNA as “Ribose nucleus acid” Loooool, such a basic thing to know and the author fluffs up massively! Generally the whole book is dumbed down, and counterintuitively makes it harder to understand. The author needs to realise that the target audience for this book are people who already have a background in science., and the dumbing down actually destroys the quality of the info being presented. This book had great potential, but unfortunately it just looks good on the coffee table, and that’s about it.

A lot of books on science aimed at the general reader may be interesting and exciting but cover topics unlikely to affect the lives of general readers in the foreseeable future - think gravitational waves for example. But this topic really is front page news.The book tells you about the political, economic, environmental, medical, moral, and legal issues of genetic engineering. The very new developments in the current decade, CRISPR and gene drive technology, are set to have massive and rapid impacts upon farming, pest control, and medicine.They could prove highly beneficial in a wide variety of ways but could also be hazardous, even potentially leading to new forms of warfare. The genie is out of the bottle and no legal sanctions can possibly put it back.The book gives just enough science to enable the general reader to grasp the principles without cutting deeper than it needs to do. For example it does not even tell you what G,A, T, and C stand for. You don't need to know. What it does do in 160 pages is cover the pressing issues. Each chapter has ten to twenty references if you want to cut deeper.It is very clearly written and you can read it in an afternoon. It is so current that it relates an important US Supreme Court ruling from September 2018.

The book provides a good overview of genetic editing and its social, scientific, legal, financial, philosophical and ethical ramifications. However, the author does come across as somewhat idiosyncratic. In Chapter 3 on the topic of population growth and ageing, very oddly she claims that two people result in there being 16 on the planet in just three generations, entirely ignoring the families that their children and grandchildren marry into. On the subject of organ transplants, she rather coldly and tactlessly points out that fewer organ donors are available because fewer people are dying in motor accidents, without equating the lives saved on our roads with lives saved because of organ transplants, perhaps because one dead motorist's organs could "save, on average, eight lives". And, at the very end, rather out of the blue, she credits gene editing technology with the potential to bring about "a more equal world for all", almost as if mutated genes and diseases are the main cause of inequality, which, of course, they are not.

I know a thing or two about this subject, and have read other books on it. Nessa Carey is BY FAR the best. The book is grounded and sensible, with the economy and simplicity of writing that comes of a really skilled science writer. Carey deftly identifies key controversies with regard to regulation and policy, highlighting absurdities in existing frameworks and the failure of governments to respond to a momentous technology with immense potential for the amelioration of global challenges.She’s also, as in all her books, so amusing and chatty that readers almost can’t imagine that the subject is actually rather complicated.Highly recommended!

The amount of co-operation between - yet rivalry in the race to get there first - scientists was interesting.