In 2012, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jennifer Doudna hit upon an invention that will transform the future of the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. It has already been deployed to cure deadly diseases, fight the coronavirus pandemic in the form of the Pfizer vaccine and make inheritable changes in the genes of babies. But what does that mean for humanity? Should we be hacking our own DNA to make us less susceptible to disease? Should we democratise the technology that would allow parents to enhance their kids? In The Code Breaker, Walter Isaacson examines how life as we know it is about to change – through a brilliant portrayal of the woman leading the way.
