Gene Editing & The Future – Mar 17

UC Berkeley biochemist Jennifer Doudna is “The Code Breaker” in historian Walter Isaacson’s new book. Doudna and colleagues created the phenomenal CRISPR gene editing tool, with unparalleld promise (and peril) to transform life on Earth. In humans, CRISPR facilitates DNA decoding — and engineering — that can make us less susceptible to viruses, promote muscle growth, enhance IQ, etc. (That’s a potent et cetera !)

Doudna won the 2020 Nobel Prize for her CRISPR research. Earlier, in 2017, she earned Wonderfest’s Carl Sagan Prize for her science outreach. In The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, Walter Isaacson extends and deepens Doudna’s “reach” with a compelling account of her truly revolutionary discovery.

Wonderfest joins The Commonwealth Club in presenting historian & biographer Walter Isaacson, in conversation with Kishore Hari. Isaacson has written 11 books including biographies of Leonardo, Einstein, and Jobs. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, the Chair and CEO of CNN, and the editor of Time magazine.