This book was fascinating and covered some important topics such as whether gene editing in humans should be allowed if it benefits the recipient. I was a little apprehensive when I started reading as the author was a lawyer and not a scientist working with CRISPR, however I found that his specialism meant that this didn’t detract from the writing or the science. I found the writing to be surprisingly emotive in places and still very educational and informative, definitely an interesting moral dilemma that’s written about in an accessible way and I would definitely recommend.

A very thorough investigation into the history of genetic engineering.

After the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020, I started reading about the development of this technique. In this book, I found a lot more interesting details and context information. It also raises some questions regarding our ethics and morals.

Great book! I am teaching CRISPR this semester and will be certainly using this book in the future once actually published and students can purchase.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

In CRISPR People, Henry T. Greely lays out the background of the science, people, and field that lead to the first genetically edited babies; the response to the announcement of their birth; and a discussion of the implications, positives, negatives, regulations, and recommendations surrounding human gene editing.

I'm a biochemistry graduate student. Before Dr. He's announcement, we'd read and discussed a lot about the potential use of CRISPR for human germline editing. When Dr. He made his announcement, everyone I knew seemed shocked and appalled at Dr. He's gall. Even then, when discussing what should be done, it was clear that we were in murky waters.

As for the science, I can't say if it would be clear to a lay person. I didn't find any errors, though, and it doesn't seem that a deep understanding of the science is necessary to understand the impact of He's experiment or of the potential of genome editing.

Greenly's review of the background leading up to the announcement and response was good for perspective. It seemed unbiased and comprehensive.

I particularly liked the later section of the book in which Greenly discusses the realistic potential of human germline editing and how it can or should be controlled. He makes several good points that should relieve a lot of unrealistic fears about the technology, while also reviewing the good and bad of past attempts at regulation.

By the end, I don't know that I feel scientists are in any less murky waters. But Greenly's analysis does provide a strong argument that scientists (myself included) are responsible for the impacts of our fields on society. Basically, if we don't speak up, who will?

I'd recommend CRISPR People to all scientists, laypersons highly interested in biotechnology, and those who have an impact on policy.