1-Sentence-Summary: The Code Breaker details the life of Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, who embarked on — and successfully completed — a journey to invent a tool that allows us to edit the human genetic code and thus will change our lives, health, and future generations forever.
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Video Summary
Science is a fascinating field of interest. Biology, in particular, is responsible for the way we live our life today. From the moment we wake up and wash away the germs off our hands, faces, and teeth, to the very last moment of our day.
We do things a certain way. That’s because people who lived before us realized this is the right way to do them. We attribute some of the world’s biggest discoveries to these people. And fortunately, we now have a few more names to add to the list of scientists who made groundbreaking discoveries.
Walter Isaacson‘s The Code Breaker presents Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier’s discoveries about the genome.
Here are three of the most relevant lessons from this book:
- Doudna and Charpentier discovered a potential cure for cancer.
- CRISPR technology can help us cure diseases, but it comes with an ethical cost.
- This emerging technology could lead to biohacking and have some pretty serious implications.
Now, let’s take each lesson one by one and learn even more about these amazing scientific discoveries!
The Code Breaker Summary
Lesson 1: CRISPR technology could potentially cure cancer, as we can already understand viruses thanks to it.
The potential of CRISPR technology is vast, and it’s only going to get better. We can already understand viruses thanks to CRISPR, which means that we can potentially cure cancer.
The CRISPR system is a natural defense mechanism found in certain bacteria which we can use for protection against viruses. It works by remembering how a virus looks and operates and transcribing its code into the bacteria’s genes to fight it if it returns.
This allows the bacteria to destroy the virus without damaging themselves later on. Scientists have harnessed this system for their own purposes. They can create artificial RNA molecules that will bind to specific sequences of DNA. This allows them to edit genes or remove unwanted parts altogether.
We can use this to cure diseases like cancer by removing harmful mutations from our genetic code or even help us respond better to viral infections by editing our immune system’s response so that it doesn’t attack healthy cells along with invading pathogens.
Lesson 2: CRISPR is a biological weapon, an ethical issue, and a revolutionary concept.
The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a way of editing genes in order to cure diseases or other genetic defects. It has been used to treat congenital blindness and sickle cell disease, among other things.
However, there are still many areas where this technology is not particularly useful for humans. For example, we have not yet been able to successfully use CRISPR on human embryos on a large scale because it would cause unintended changes in the embryo’s DNA that could lead to birth defects.
Some people are already thinking of CRISPR as a new tool to shape children according to the parent’s preferences. Some would be given superpowers (like the “designer babies” that were created to be immune to HIV), while some could be the result of harmful revenge.
This means that we can use CRISPR as a tool to repair certain diseases or get rid of them for good, but we cannot yet use it as an alternative method of reproduction. CRISPR remains both an ethical and a biological challenge.
Lesson 3: This groundbreaking discovery will shape our entire future, the author thinks.
Biohacking involves the use of biology and biotechnology to alter the genetic makeup of a living organism in order to cause harm or enhance its abilities.
As technology continues to advance at an exponential rate, it becomes easier for hackers to modify their bodies with nanotechnology and gene therapy in order to gain superhuman abilities.
These abilities include increased strength and speed; regeneration from wounds, resistance to disease, increased intelligence, and many others.
It seems that we’re starting to see the potential for biohacking to become a major threat to security and privacy because it could be used for nefarious purposes like weaponizing viruses or creating new bioweapons.
One thing that makes biohacking so threatening is how easy it is to do. Unlike traditional computer hacking, which requires specialized knowledge and expensive equipment, anyone with even a basic understanding of biology can perform their own experiments at home with nothing more than a few basic tools.
Unfortunately, some of these tools are already sold on the market, and CRISPR technology is pretty popular among these individuals.
The Code Breaker Review
CRISPR has the potential to cause huge positive changes in the world, and even shape the future of humanity – literally!
The Code Breaker shows just how powerful this technology is, and how science played a crucial role in the development of humans and nations. However, if we are not careful enough, this technology may surpass us, and the implications can be catastrophic.
Still, science is vital for evolution, and CRISPR could be the revolution we so desperately needed to fight grave diseases. If you want some food for thought, I highly recommend this book, as it’ll pose some pretty serious life questions for anyone who dares to read it.
Who would I recommend our The Code Breaker summary to?
The 55-year-old science professor who wants to keep up with emerging trends in his field, the 33-year-old biologist who is highly interested in CRISPR technology, or the 40-year-old person who enjoys a good lecture from the science world and is looking for a perspective on the future of humanity.
Last Updated on June 15, 2023
