So that when the virus attacks again, the bacteria remembers it and uses a little guide RNA and a pair of 'scissors' (an enzyme that acts as a pair of scissors) and cuts up the invading virus. Whenever viruses attack certain bacteria, those bacteria do something very clever: They take a mugshot and they put it in their own genetic material of the bacteria. On how the gene editing technology CRISPR mimics what the immune system does to bacteria And so this part of the 21st century, I think, will be a biotech revolution, a life sciences revolution. And now with Jennifer Doudna and the things that she and her colleagues have invented, we found ways to rewrite that genome. And in the beginning of this century, in 2000 or so, we sequenced the entire human genome. Now we've come to another particle, a fundamental particle of our existence, which is the gene. This part of the 21st century, I think, will be a biotech revolution, a life sciences revolution in which we'll be able to rewrite the code of life. So that's we ought to have the discussion: What type of genes do we want to edit?' 'Like any technology, is only as good or bad as we are. 'In the future, you might be able to do more complicated things - change hair color or muscle mass or memory cells in a human being,' he says.

'It made me think that all of us should understand and marvel at and be excited about this notion.'īut, Isaacson warns that gene editing also raises a host of moral and ethical questions - especially as the technology becomes more developed.

We can rewrite it if we want to,' Isaacson says.

'The very secrets of life - our DNA - is something that we can not only read these days, but we can write. Isaacson likens its technological capabilities to 'Prometheus snatching fire from the gods - or maybe Adam and Eve biting into the apple.' In his new book, The Code Breaker, author Walter Isaacson chronicles the development of CRISPR and profiles Jennifer Doudna, who, along with Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the 2020 Nobel prize in chemistry for their roles in developing the technology.ĬRISPR has already led to experimental treatments for Huntington's disease and sickle cell anemia, as well as certain cancers. The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are the first vaccines to be activated by mRNA - and would not have been possible without the invention of the gene editing technology known as CRISPR.

The code breaker author