
The Code Breaker -- Young Readers Edition
Jennifer Doudna and the Race to Understand Our Genetic Code
Walter Isaacson(Author)
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (Publisher)
Published on 11. May 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-6659-1067-5 (ISBN)
Description
Walter Isaacson's #1 New York Times bestselling history of our third scientific revolution: CRISPR, gene editing, and the quest to understand the code of life itself, is now adapted for young readers!
When Jennifer Doudna was a sixth grader in Hilo, Hawaii, she came home from school one afternoon and found a book on her bed. It was The Double Helix, James Watson's account of how he and Francis Crick had discovered the structure of DNA, the spiral-staircase molecule that carries the genetic instruction code for all forms of life.
This book guided Jennifer Doudna to focus her studies not on DNA, but on what seemed to take a backseat in biochemistry: figuring out the structure of RNA, a closely related molecule that enables the genetic instructions coded in DNA to express themselves. Doudna became an expert in determining the shapes and structures of these RNA molecules-an expertise that led her to develop a revolutionary new technique that could edit human genes.
Today gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR are already being used to eliminate simple genetic defects that cause disorders such as Tay-Sachs and sickle cell anemia. For now, however, Jennifer and her team are being deployed against our most immediate threat-the coronavirus-and you have just been given a front row seat to that race.
When Jennifer Doudna was a sixth grader in Hilo, Hawaii, she came home from school one afternoon and found a book on her bed. It was The Double Helix, James Watson's account of how he and Francis Crick had discovered the structure of DNA, the spiral-staircase molecule that carries the genetic instruction code for all forms of life.
This book guided Jennifer Doudna to focus her studies not on DNA, but on what seemed to take a backseat in biochemistry: figuring out the structure of RNA, a closely related molecule that enables the genetic instructions coded in DNA to express themselves. Doudna became an expert in determining the shapes and structures of these RNA molecules-an expertise that led her to develop a revolutionary new technique that could edit human genes.
Today gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR are already being used to eliminate simple genetic defects that cause disorders such as Tay-Sachs and sickle cell anemia. For now, however, Jennifer and her team are being deployed against our most immediate threat-the coronavirus-and you have just been given a front row seat to that race.
More details
Edition
Reprint
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Simon & Schuster
Target group
Children/juvenile
US School Grade: Fifth Grade and over, Interest Age: From 9 years
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
f-c cvr (spfx: 2 pms colors)
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
245 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6659-1067-5 (9781665910675)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Walter Isaacson
The Code Breaker -- Young Readers Edition
Jennifer Doudna and the Race to Understand Our Genetic Code
E-Book
04/2022
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
€8.89
Available for download
Persons
Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Elon Musk, Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane and was CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu.
Sarah Durand is a New York Times bestselling collaborator who works with celebrities, beauty and wellness experts, professional athletes, CEOs, and women with a mission. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two daughters.
Sarah Durand is a New York Times bestselling collaborator who works with celebrities, beauty and wellness experts, professional athletes, CEOs, and women with a mission. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two daughters.