The Code Breaker

Isaacson's argument is that the biotech revolution built on CRISPR gene-editing technology represents as significant a turning point as the digital revolution he chronicled in his earlier biographies — except this time the code being rewritten is DNA itself, and the stakes include curing genetic disease, engineering pandemic responses, and potentially reshaping human heredity. He tells this story through the career of biochemist Jennifer Doudna and the sprawling cast of scientists, rivals, and companies racing to develop and commercialize the technology.

It matters because Isaacson insists the central questions raised by CRISPR — should we edit only to cure disease, or also to enhance human traits; should edits be reversible in a single patient, or heritable and passed to future generations — are not distant science-fiction concerns but decisions already being made, including in a scandal where a Chinese scientist secretly created the first gene-edited babies.

Who should read it

Readers interested in the frontier of biotechnology, medical ethics, or the culture of high-stakes scientific competition and collaboration will find this an absorbing, character-driven account. It's also a natural next step for readers of Isaacson's other biographies who want the same narrative style applied to a live, unresolved scientific and moral question.

About the author

Walter Isaacson is an American author and journalist known for biographies of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Leonardo da Vinci; he is a professor at Tulane University and former CEO of the Aspen Institute.