I did not finish this book. I tried to read it but I won’t be finishing it. I won’t be rating this book.

A really cool look at an amazing science. I had some minor background in Crispr from school and with it I really enjoyed the book. It was something almost any teen could read but also went in depth enough for those who truly want to understand the amazing technology

A well-written and informative novel on the science of CRISPR, that manages to be both educational and engaging. The author Yolanda Ridge does an excellent job of explaining some of the complex science behind CRISPR in an easy to understand manner.

CRISPR stands for Clustered Regular Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Gene and genetics research are complicated and already have a history of positive and negative results. The decisions of choosing whether or not to modify or enhance genes vary by subject, disease, and creature. Controversial and also exciting, this research and what’s become of it is amazing. I’m not a science buff but I enjoyed reading this informational book because everything is broken down into understandable bits. The illustrations helped immensely also. The big questions of, should we or shouldn’t we? arise with every aspect of gene research. How far should it be taken and what effects will the research, and acting on it, have on the world. Fascinating and frightening all at the same time, 5 stars!

CRISPR is a fun (yup, pretty fun) introduction to the world of gene editing technology. Yolanda Ridge takes readers on a nice review of biological concepts and then introduces CRISPR and its various uses. This was easy to understand, and would be perfect as a young adult student guide. I especially liked how the sections included a lot of thought-provoking questions about how this technology can be wielded, and the potential ramifications for such advanced biological capabilities. My main issue with this edition is that the kindle format is alllll kinds of messed up, so the graphics did not display correctly and threw the sections totally out of whack.

This is one of the most comprehensive explorations of gene editing that I personally have encountered. Complex but not excessively bogged down with technical jargon. A lay person can understand the content with a minimal amount of effort. We get first an explanation of DNA and genetic engineering, then the story of CRISPR and how scientist intend to use it. That's what we expect, of course, but Ridge doesn't stop there. There's a full exploration of the complications both scientific and moral. We look at how things might go wrong, how we might create new problems, and how gene editing might be misused. And it doesn't tell us what to think so much as it gives us questions to consider. A solid entry in the world of scientific texts.

I read the pre-released copy of this books so the images, maps, and diagram weren’t laid out correctly or were missing information. That said I still found this book super informative and was able to follow along. With the working images I could see this book being amazing. I’m glad I saw it as I feel like I learned something the book presents both sides of using CRISPR and I feel better informed.

This is a nonfiction text about a relatively new development called CRISPR. It breaks down all the science into more accessible terms and offers context for everything to the layman. The diagrams are helpful and easy to interpret. This would be a good text to consider for a unit on nonfiction.

CRISPR: A Powerful Way to Change DNA is a primer on the CRISPR family of sequences and their biotechnological applications aimed at providing layman accessible explanations for the science and theory behind the concepts. Due out 8th Sept 2020 from Annick Press, it's 116 pages and will be available in hardcover and paperback formats.

Ostensibly aimed at young people, this is a good introduction to the science for middle grades up through adults. The author has a facility with science writing and renders the concepts fairly easy to understand for the average reader of whatever age. The layout is logical: a background capsule survey of genetics leads into specific areas where applications of the biotechnology has potentially world changing outcomes. The author's explanation of CAS proteins (and CAS9 in particular) is one of the simplest and best I've come across.The language is not unnecessarily scientific, though it is factual and requires some effort to really assimilate.

The book is well illustrated with line drawings throughout which give a more easily assimilated graphic representation of some of the salient concepts. It should be noted that this book is written about advanced biotechnology and for readers without any background at all, some moderate effort will be needed to understand the concepts.

I've been banging on for decades about the importance of STE(A)M education and this is a well written book which would make a superlative selection for classroom or home libraries, especially for young science interested readers. One (small) quibble with the book is that the author resorts to cutesy alliterative chapter titles (Mutant Mosquitoes, Cancer Cured, Perfect Potatoes, Death Defeated). That might've well been an editorial judgement, who knows, but it doesn't really add anything to the reading. There are other places where the author draws correlations between past innovations in biotechnology such as IVF and shows that they were also controversial at the time and are now seen as mainstream and innocuous (albeit miraculous). I understand that combating the more sensationalist reactions in the press and the public over technology which they generally have a faulty and incomplete understanding is important, but I think that education and not comparisons must be the way forward. ( in other words: People freaked about IVF then, but it turned out fine, so don't worry about splicing fluorescent jellyfish genes into your tropical fish, look, they glow green!).

My "day job" is in biotechnology in a pathology laboratory which sees these and other techniques as an unquestionably *vital* step in isolating and treating (and someday curing) a host of diseases. This -is- going to be the way forward in medicine and other areas of biotechnology (plastic eating bacteria, food security and abundance, helping solve climate change, etc).

This will not be a super easy book for most readers. It is a good book for especially science interested young people or determined adult learners.

Five stars mostly for doing a decent job of explaining very complex concepts in a layman accessible manner.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Not going to lie, I chose this book to request because I am lacking a decent science background, and figured a YA book about Crispr would explain it at a level I could understand. And this book did just that. I now want to go find more resources about Crispr. Thanks Yolanda for sparking a renewed interest in science.

My brother is a seasoned virologist who has advanced knowledge of CRISPR, genes and diseases, so I had to read this. I have read a few other books about the topic but I like how the author explains this in layman's terms and explains genetics throughout each chapter. I like how she introduces a new concept in each chapter and reviews everything so the information being explained is understood. It is clear this author is very knowledgeable about genetics and the DNA genome and has a passion for educating others.

This was much better than I thought it was going to be and would recommend it for high school biology labs but also for college courses in genetics. A brief but informative glance on the topic of CRISPR and how it rewrites imperfections in genes.

Thanks to Netgalley, Yolanda Ridge and Annick Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 9/8/20

This was a great introduction to CRISPR and genetic modification. I’m actually working towards getting a minor in genetics, so I thought this book would be right up my alley. It was certainly an educational read, but wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I found myself reading sentences like “It’s just the result of those other genes doing their thing,” which left me wondering exactly what those other genes were and what they are doing. The childish simplification of mRNA to “The workers inside the cell” and comparisons between the human genome and “toy bricks“ further led me to believe this book would be better suited to middle and high school students. That being said, this book is a great introduction to CRISPR and the ethical dilemma surrounding genetic modification. This was also a relatively quick read, and I’m impressed Yolanda Ridge was able to pack so much into so few pages. I definitely think this is a worthwhile introduction to genetics, but it doesn’t cover much beyond that.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Annick Press. Opinions are my own.

This book is such a great way to introduce the complex topic of CRISPR. I thought Yolanda Ridge did a wonderfully thorough job of making CRISPR understandable for the laymen. I actually plan to assign this book as an optional reading for my college students.

Having taken many science classes over the distant years, including advanced genetics and also biochemistry, I have been watching and reading about CRISPR/cas developments. I found this book to be a good introductory tool for young people or non scientific people who want an exposure to the pros and cons of this as well as the basics of genetics.
I appreciated the time spent with the very basics. I also loved the way this was written in a way that showed why it was developed and the applications of it, but didn’t shy away from the negatives of where it could be used for harm. When this was in its early introduction to the scientific community, the applications were easy to see and get excited about. On the other hand, I know that those who were doing this work called for a moratorium to give those scientists a chance to meet and discover the risks and ethics involved as well. It’s an easy technology in the scheme of things but littered with ethical issues that need to be clearly evaluated prior to its widespread use. Whether it is used to fight disease and used in humans or used to decrease disease by introducing an altered species as in the fight against malaria or to improve food products, each situation has the risk of the technology being used in a way that wind up with unpredictable results or used for the wrong reasons, similar to eugenics.
Overall, I think as an addition to basic genetics instruction at the high school or introductory college level, this would be a great tool. On its own for these levels, some of the details may be lost.
I had trouble with the formatting of this eARC so the illustrations were not clear. This may have influenced my take on who would benefit the most from this book.
Great overview and I hope that it finds its way into many young people’s hands.
Thank you for the early copy.
#CRISPR #Netgalley #AnnickPress

This is a young adult nonfiction book about the newest cutting edge science topic - CRISPR. By using CRISPR, scientists can change DNA, our genetic code, relatively easily and permanently, in some cases even down through the generations. The question explored here...should we? The book is nicely organized, beginning with a quick biology lesson, followed by a brief explanation of CRISPR, leading into various uses for the process, including humans. Each chapter ends by asking valid questions of the reader, leading to worthwhile discussions. The book concludes with a long list of sources, an index, and a list of further reading suggestions.

Although the focus is YA, the smooth, basic, easy-to-understand writing will also help adults understand the concepts. I can see this book being used in middle and high school science classes as well as adult book clubs.

The formatting was not perfect and the illustrations seemed to jump around, but that could have been from the ebook ARC that I was reading. A print format will probably work better for this excellent book. Thanks to NetGalley and Annick Press for providing an ARC.

CRISPR is an important technology, which literally will change the face of the earth. It is important that our kids learn about these leading edge technologies before their get to voting age and may face decisions on whether they endorse modern, bleeding edge technologies or not.

This is one of these educational books. An adult can easily blow through this book in 2 hours or less, to get a basic primer on what it is, how it works, and where the future potential lies.

But keep in mind that this is clearly a book for teens, young adults is already a stretch. But I certainly hope that this book becomes classroom literature, as it is very inviting to be digested in a group, having the discussions of each chapter together to share thoughts and ideas. This may be an excellent enrichment for middle school libraries for collaborative learning.