Jennifer and Jim: Mr. DNA told by Lady CRISPR

The fascination with biochemistry sparked by The Double Helix, the thrill of her first invitation to Cold Spring Harbor, and the melancholy of her last visit to the disgraced genius.

While we wait for Nathaniel Comfort’s upcoming biography of James Watson, Jennifer Doudna’s story in The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson offers a revealing lens on the scientist whose outstanding legacy is overshadowed by his offensive claims about intelligence and race. Doudna crossed paths with Watson three times — moments that shaped both her imagination and her opinion of the man who helped discover the structure of DNA.

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Do we need a Global Observatory for Gene Editing?

osservatorio globale NatureEveryone knows IPCC, the forum created under the auspices of the United Nations to review the state of knowledge on climate change, draw scenarios on its impact, and compare alternative policies. Does the world need a similar body for the biotech revolution ahead, as claimed by Sheila Jasanoff and J. Benjamin Hurlbut in Nature? Is a Global Observatory on Gene Editing the solution to our CRISPR troubles? We asked a pioneer of gene therapy and a pioneer of gene drives, but also a bioethicist, a political scientist, a social psychologist, a science historian. Continue reading

Expect the unexpected. CRISPR week roundup

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CRISPR binge-watchers have eyes wide shut. Medicine historian Nathaniel Comfort demolishes for Nature the long-awaited book by the queen of genome editing Jennifer Doudna “A crack in creation”. CRISPR stocks fall after the publication of a small preliminary study on off-target mutations. New Scientist announces as many as 20 human trials will be under way soon, mostly in China.