Hacking the Code of Life: How gene editing will rewrite our futures (Hot Science)

Review
'Nessa Carey is an excellent, brisk guide'
'A brisk, accessible primer on the fast-moving field, a clear-eyed look at a technology that is already driving major scientific advances - and raising complex ethical questions.' -- Emily Anthes ― Undark
'Carey’s trawl of potential applications - such as high-yield rice varieties, therapies for sickle-cell disease and germline gene editing - is edifying. A focused snapshot of a brave new world.' -- Nature
Just 45 years ago, the age of gene modification was born. Researchers could create glow-in-the-dark mice, farmyard animals producing drugs in their milk, and vitamin-enhanced rice that could prevent half a million people going blind every year.
But now GM is rapidly being supplanted by a new system called CRISPR or ‘gene editing’. Using this approach, scientists can manipulate the genes of almost any organism with a degree of precision, ease and speed that we could only dream of ten years ago.
But is it ethical to change the genetic material of organisms in a way that might be passed on to future generations? If a person is suffering from a lethal genetic disease, is it even more unethical to deny them this option? Who controls the application of this technology, when it makes ‘biohacking’ – perhaps of one’s own genome – a real possibility?
Nessa Carey’s book is a thrilling and timely snapshot of a technology that will radically alter our futures.