Hacking the Code of Life: How gene editing will rewrite our futures by Nessa Carey

Hacking the Code of Life: How gene editing will rewrite our futures Reviews

• 
  Brian Clegg

  Nessa Carey has proved consistently effective in putting across the next generation (as it were) aspects of genetics that take as far beyond the selfish gene. We've had The Epigenetics Revolution and Junk DNA on the aspects of genetics where genes are switched on and off, and looking at the parts of DNA that don't code for genes. Now, with Hacking the Code of Life, we come from the natural side to human intervention - the ability to edit the genome and the implications of this ability.
  
  In the past we've seen rather hysterical responses to gene editing, whether it's campaigns against genetically modified organisms that have prevented life-saving developments and wider availability of food, or dramatic predictions of disaster. Carey gives us a more balanced picture. She doesn't play down the risks - but all technology comes with risk. Use of fire might have been one of the greatest steps forward in human development, but it can also kill people. We had to learn to control it and regulate it, and the same goes for gene editing.
  
  In this slim volume, Carey takes us through the mechanics of making modifications to the genome, from the early crude mechanisms to the remarkable precision of CRISPR - which is where things really begin to take off for the future.
  
  The book covers medical applications, the potential transformation of agriculture (surely it's time for the EU to get its act together on GM, which is very different now with these new technologies? - and let's face we've been genetically modifying crops since the beginning of agriculture), animal applications and whether or not we should actively modify ourself, not just to deal with illnesses but to enhance the human species.
  
  All this is packed into a 160-page book (excluding notes), which is a welcome relief after the tendency to produced vast, over-written popular science titles. This is the kind of book that should be issued to every politician and civil servant involved in these kind of processes as a background read - short enough to have time to get through it, but detailed enough to really make the reader think and have a clear picture of what's involved. CRISPR has been around for a little while now and we've been lacking a concise book that covers its implications - we've got that now in this excellent title.
• 
  Ashis Saha

  জিন এডিটিং — কৃত্রিম উপায়ে ডিএনএ পরিবর্তন — সাম্প্রতিক কালের রোমাঞ্চকর এক আবিষ্কার। আসলে এডিটিং প্রযুক্তি আগেও ছিলো, তবে সাম্প্রতিক কালে (২০১২) এর অভূতপূর্ব উন্নতি হয়েছে, যা সহজেই প্রায় সকল জীবের ক্ষেত্রে প্রয়োগ করা যায়। অন্যভাবে বললে, বর্তমান প্রযুক্তি আসলে ১৯৯৭ সালের GATTACA সিনেমার বৈজ্ঞানিক কল্পকাহিনী বাস্তবায়ন করার চাবিকাঠি। এর মাধ্যমে ধানসহ বিভিন্ন শস্যের উচ্চ-ফলনশীল জাত যেমন বের করা যায়, তেমনি মানব ইতিহাসের দূরারোগ্য কঠিন অনেক রোগ দূর করা যেতে পারে। আবার একইসাথে মারাত্মক জৈব-রাসায়নিক মারণাস্ত্রও তৈরি করা সম্ভব। সবচেয়ে ভয়ের বিষয় হলো, এর অজানা সব পার্শ্ব-প্রতিক্রিয়া, যা এমনকি বৈশ্বিক খাদ্যচক্র ভেঙ্গে দেয়ার ক্ষমতা রাখতে পারে। এমনই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ সব স্বাস্থ্য-সম্পর্কিত, অর্থনৈতিক, সামাজিক, রাজনৈতিক ও নৈতিক বিষয় জড়িত আছে জিন এডিটিং-এর সাথে। তাই মানব সভ্যতা ও সমস্ত জীবজগতের স্বার্থেই আমাদের সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে হবে এ শক্তিশালী প্রযুক্তিকে আমরা কীভাবে ব্যবহার করতে পারি। খুবই সহজবোধ্য আর সাবলীল এ বই আমাদের পরিচয় করিয়ে দেয় জিন এডিটিং-এর আশাপ্রদ ও আশংকাজনক উভয় দিকের সাথে।
  
• 
  Stephanie

  "Ethical and legal frameworks rarely develop best when created under time pressure, so it's important that the issues are considered well in advance of widespread implementation"
  
  At only 160 pages, I think anyone with an opinion on the subject (which is probably everyone) should read this. There aren't answers in this book and Carey isn't trying to influence one way or the other. But she presents scenarios, pros and cons, and the questions that need to be considered for thoughtful regulation.
  
  There's enough history and biology to make sure everyone is on the same foot without being too technical or patronizing to lay people.
• 
  Shaelene (aGirlWithBookss)

  If you are curious about Gene Editing but don't want to be overwhelmed with scientific jargon, this might be the way to go.
  The complex topic of gene editing is present here in a highly accessible and understandable way, so simple a 5 grader could understand it.
  The author has provided us with plenty of citations to back up what they are researching, which I found handy when I wanted to delve into the topic more.
  I found this quite enjoyable and easy to understand.
  3 stars.
  A great introductory to the topic.
• 
  Elentarri

  Nessa Carey has written an introductory, some-what opinionated, easy-to-understand, and rather short book about gene editing. She covers the basics of the technique, the history, the advantages and occasionally the disadvantages, in terms of medical uses, with several examples. The book is interesting and informative, but I really wished for more technical details.
• 
  ­

  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 genetic 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.
• 
  Fanie Oosthuysen

  You unfortunately have to be possessed by leftist propaganda, a non-individual or probably a sexist feminist or an alarmist to enjoy this book. So if that’s you. This one would suit you better. Now on for my search for a technical book, one compatible to the coding books written by hackers and that got me involved in coding when I was 9. One that doesn’t try to complain about ethics from a perspective that lacks depth in technical understanding and scope of vision to simulate all outcomes. We never had journalists, politicians and academics informing our ethics or direction in the original Information Age and technology revolution that followed, hackers did that. So I really don’t understand why they now think they can add any value to the ethical discussions for AI or BioTeck and genetic hacking. Apart from that there are some things I learned from the book. So I’m not saying don’t read it. I just hope you have your mental antivirus filter updated and switched to be-vigilant mode when you do.
• 
  Morgan Blackledge

  Short and to the point.
  
  This brief overview of gene editing is a nice introduction to the field.
  
  That being said.
  
  I read it directly after Walter Isaacson’s The Code Breaker (on the same subject) and there is no contest which is the superior book.
  
  Albeit, Isaacson’s tome was three times as long.
  
  If you had to chose between the two.
  
  Pick The Code Breaker.
  
  But if you want a quick, tidy, easy primer.
  
  This one will do nicely.
  
  Bearing all of that in mind.
  
  I’ll give this a respectable 3.5 😀😀😀.😐
• 
  Stephanie McMillan

  Hacking the Code of Life was definitely written for the popular media and in a tone and writing style that is accessible to even those without a science background. Carey lays out the history of gene-editing in a clear and engaging way, though, at times her biases and simplification are distracting. My favorite chapter was on gene-editing mosquitos. I’d recommend this for a quick overview on an emerging health topic but not as a deep in depth review.
• 
  Jared Gulian

  This book was a rich source of inspiration while I was writing “The Last Beekeeper.” Carey communicates complicated science in clear and easy-to-understand ways that make sense to the layperson. Covers the history of gene editing, the major concepts and techniques, the issues and dilemmas involved in editing food and animals and humans, the risks, the ethics, and the opportunities. I found the information on germline gene editing especially fascinating – where changes in the DNA sequence will be inherited by offspring. Strongly recommend for anybody interested in gene editing.
• 
  Giuseppe D

  I think the description of the CRISPR mechanism was very good. Some of the examples of the potential applications of the technique, especially the ones for human diseases, some might already be familiar with since they're single point mutations (e.g. thalassemia, sickle cell anemia etc). All in all, very informative and an easy read.
• 
  Darian Onaciu

  Good intro to gene editing and CRISPR.
• 
  Jose

  A quick read (like 2-3 hours) which brings you quickly up to date on CRISPR topics. I finished my molecular bio degree in 2007 and it is amazing to read about the advances since that time!
• 
  The Inquisitive Biologist

  Gene editing for people in a hurry – Hacking the Code of Life distils this complex topic into an excellent introduction for a general audience. See my full review at
  https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...
• 
  Ondrej Urban

  Hacking the Code of Life is a book mostly about ethics and provides you with a vast list of topics to discuss at a dinner party with the people that know better than to talk about celebrities (my snob hat is firmly on now). Unlike Nessa Carey's other books, this one touches on the actual science only briefly, starting with the history of the gene editing. It follows with some basic principles of the rough bits of the CRISPR technology, which, to my huge disappointment, it concludes with an explanation of a very early technology and a paragraph more or less saying "Today we can do this much better and edit down to single letters." Great, but HOW?!
  
  The rest of this short book describes plethora of applications of gene editing technologies, discussing ethics of their application and occasionally tiredly ridiculing politicians, whose compromise solutions end up being the worst outcome possible. Nessa Carey is firmly in the pro-gene-editing camp, and has arguments. Overall, these chapters cover agriculture, farming and, of course, human medicine applications.
  
  This annoyingly short book might allow you an insight of how non-expert politicians might think. Following a metaphore-laden explanation of cutting edge technologies they are made to decide on the future of these. That said, it will also equip you with fascinating ethical conundrums to entertain while the salmon is served!
• 
  Dima Yousef Jadaan

  Nessa Carey previously wrote 2 amazing books; 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘋𝘕𝘈. In her third book, 𝘏𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦, she provides an overview of gene editing from a variety of perspectives: biological, economic, ethical, and legal and discusses its applications in many areas. ⁣
  ⁣
  The book consists of 10 chapters that go through the history of gene editing, a little bit of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology, and the applications of gene editing in the food and animal industries, medicine, and mosquito control. The book also discusses germline gene editing (editing the genome in the embryological state), safety and ethical considerations, and the legal battles over patents of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology.⁣
  ⁣
  Nessa Carey is one of my favourite authors; her writing style is clear, accessible, and engaging. In 𝘏𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦, she discusses important societal, ethical, regulatory, and economic ramifications and addresses access and delivery issues and “key factors” that influence the success of gene editing. My one complaint about this book is that it lacked depth and scientific detail. Based on her previous 2 books, the author is a talented science writer who can clearly explain textbook-level molecular biology concepts for general readers. I wish she had done the same in this book. Compared to her previous books, this one is slim and barely scratches the surface with regards to the science of gene editing.⁣
  ⁣
  Nevertheless, this is a well-written book that gives a general overview of gene editing and its economic, societal, ethical, and legal implications. I highly recommend it to readers interested in these topics without delving deeper into the scientific details of gene editing.⁣
• 
  Verity Moon

  Hacking the Code of Life by Nessa Carey is so accessible that you don’t have to be a scientist to fully understand its topic.
  
  This book accomplished what the publishers set out to do, which was to offer a concise, semi-detailed summary of a certain subject. It dives into the earliest stages of genetics study, tracing the history of the subject from the identification of DNA's structure to the present. Then, it describes the operation of the CRISPR-Cas9 system and analyzes the potential applications and ethical dilemmas of using it in fields including biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine.
  
  I appreciate the way Carey addresses the moral and societal ramifications of gene editing, especially worries about possible abuse or unforeseen effects. She gives a fair assessment of the technology, highlighting both the promises and the drawbacks, which made my reading a memorable experience. It's really thought-provoking, and that’s why I'm recommending this to all of you.
• 
  Nadia

  I'm new to reading about gene editing so I was careful on what book I picked up first as I didn't want something that would have been difficult for me to understand, so if you're in the same position as myself and are introducing yourself to this topic then I think this book is a great place to start.
  
  There was great bitesize categories within each chapter that explained things in an easily understandable and digestible way, it was also fun to read and didn't feel too heavy.
  
  Nessa Carey covers topics such as the early days, editing food, the ethics of gene editing which includes topics on disabilities and editing embryos, it also discusses changing the genome, gene editing in animals and more - the information is vast and with it being a short book it's a great introduction into the science and what it can do, making you question that just because we can do, should we?
• 
  Mike Lisanke

  Good book; solid content; excellent coverage But the author starts by wondering if human population has expanded to exhaust the resources of our planet By people living too long... then goes on to explain why we should have gene editing to solve the problems extended life span of humans has caused... there are also many technically incorrect "opinions" presented as facts... like agriculture is our savoir from all the bad animal sourced foods etc. etc. blah blah. If authors steered clear of their political correctness we've have much better science books that wouldn't have any downside; readers would be free to make their own connections to their favorite political opinions :-p.
• 
  Dolf van der Haven

  This is an overall decent book, dealing with not only the scientific aspects of gene editing, but also the ethical, social, and even commercial sides of it. It is very accessibly written, but suffers from two main issues:
  1. The author has a tendency to stand on a soap box, ranting against regulators and Anti-GMO groups, showing a narrow and one-sided perspective on these issues.
  2. Later chapters ramble too much and seem to be merely separate articles stapled to the main body of the book.
  Her other, older books seem to be better, and this book did not scare me from wanting to read those at some point as well.
• 
  Thomas Underhill

  DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST INTRODUCTION TO THE AUTHOR
  
  this was NOT her best work, Junk DNA and epigenetics revolution were amazing, this was a sloppy arrangement of 165pages that was so dumbed down I couldn’t finish it.
  
  My guess is that she has spent too much time on Twitter and that the hyperpolarized political environment of twitter somehow induced* her into an ideologically possessed preachy elitist bourgeoise who wanted to use her alleged book about gene editing to give working class retail employees a hard time for eating a hamburger.
  Yet another great author lost to us by twitter, when will it stop ?
  
  
• 
  Mohammad

  It’s an interesting book that talks about one of the most important topics in the last decade, gene editing. The author explains briefly how gene editing is performed, its history, how it’s applied already to plants, animals, and even humans. The book discusses the ethical questions related to the use of this technology, and its potential future applications.
  
  The book is good but it was too brief and didn’t dive too much into the technical details as compared to the other book by the same author “The Epigenetics Revolution“.
• 
  Nerd Sniper

  Was Nessa Carey on a train when writing this? Probably! as this book, which appears to be a quick response to a Chinese scientist's stint, failed to get in the depth. Strength of Epigenetics Revolution over other related books was abundance of technical dose - which this book clearly lacked. But as like every other book, I am grateful to the author for I learnt few new things which I didn't know before and hoping for a much better, expanded edition soon.
• 
  Alec G

  This book is full of fascinating uses for and implications of genetically modifying us and the organisms that we share a planet with. I read it as assigned in a genetics course so maybe that context altered my view of the book, but I found it lacking depth. It's really just a pop science book that feels like a bunch of short essays written on various applications and issues of genetic engineering.