What Is Life: Five Great Ideas in Biology by Paul Nurse
Paul Nurse is an eminent biologist who received the Nobel Prize for discovering the genes that control the division of cells. Currently Chancellor of the university of Bristol, England, he also served as President of the Royal Society and of Rockefeller University and Chief Executive of the Francis Crick Institute, a leading biomedical research center in London. Paul Nurse provides fascinating insights into what constitutes life, how numerous molecular processes interact to orchestrate the exquisite functioning of a living system, and what drives and sustains the extraordinary diversity of living systems. An understanding of this is essential for solving many of the challenges facing us today, from climate change to pandemics. Nurse builds a compelling narrative by describing the five core principles or ideas underpinning biology: the cell, the gene, evolution by natural selection, life as chemistry, and life as information. In a very lucid and simple manner, easily understood by the general reader, the author tells how our understanding of what is life has progressed over the last five centuries. We get a glimpse into some personal experiences from the author’s life as well as pivotal moments in scientific discovery. One of the most striking tenets articulated by the author is the recognition of how all living systems are interconnected, and why it is critical for us to maintain the biodiversity that powers the expansion and enrichment of the living systems. Through his brilliant writing, the author uncovers the commonality of all living systems and the fundamental principles that govern the expression of life at various levels.
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson pens this fascinating story of one of the most monumental discoveries in biology in recent years. Many scientific breakthroughs and collaborations between a group of scientists, spread over different continents, ultimately led to the development of the gene editing method, Crispr- Cas9. Crispr was initially used to disarm harmful viruses in bacteria through editing their DNA. Central to Isaacson’s narrative is Jennifer Doudna, Professor of Biomedical Science at the University of California, Berkeley who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with French microbiologist, Emmanuelle Charpentier for showing how the Crispr technique could be adapted to edit genes in humans and other organisms. Doudna focused on the potential medical applications of this technology that has raised hopes of treating and curing a host of diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s to cancer and diabetes by altering the gene that is responsible for the disease. Isaacson identifies three great revolutions during modern times - the revolution based on Einstein’s contributions to physics leading to spaceships, lasers and radar; the breakthrough idea of encoding all information through binary digits and circuits with on-off switches that led to the discovery of microchips, computers, the internet and the information technology revolution; and most recently the revolution in life sciences that began with the comprehensive mapping of the human genome. The author, acclaimed for his many powerful biographies, provides yet another arresting portrait while at the same time giving readers a view of how the groundbreaking scientific discovery of gene editing was made and has evolved over time. Isaacson includes a compelling discussion on the many ethical issues that this technology raises.
