The Mutant Project, Eben Kirksey
The Mutant Project, Eben Kirksey
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The Mutant Project
Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans

Author: Eben Kirksey

Narrator: Jonathan Todd Ross

Unabridged: 12 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 11/10/2020


Synopsis

An anthropologist visits the frontiers of the next scientific revolution to ask: whose values are guiding gene editing experiments, and what are the implications for humanity?

At a conference in Hong Kong in November 2018, Dr. He Jiankui announced that he had created the first genetically modified babies?twin girls named Lulu and Nana?sending shockwaves around the world. A year later, a Chinese court sentenced Dr. He to three years in prison for "illegal medical practice."

As scientists elsewhere start to catch up with China’s vast genetic research program, gene editing is fueling an innovation economy that threatens to widen racial and economic inequality. Fundamental questions about science, health, and social justice are at stake: Who gets access to gene editing technologies? As countries around the globe, from the U.S. to Indonesia, loosen regulations, can we shape research agendas to promote an ethical and fair society?

Eben Kirksey takes us on a groundbreaking journey to meet the key scientists, lobbyists, and entrepreneurs who are bringing cutting-edge genetic modification tools like CRISPR to your local clinic. He also ventures beyond the scientific echo chamber, talking to disabled scholars, doctors, hackers, chronically-ill patients, and activists who have alternative visions of a future shaped by genetic engineering.

The Mutant Project empowers us to ask the right questions, uncover the truth, and better prepare for this brave new world we're already entering.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara

3.5 stars Author Eben Kirksey In this book anthropologist Eben Kirksey updates us on cutting edge genetic manipulation that could change the human race. Modern advances in gene therapy stem from the work of Dr. Jennifer Doudna and Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, Nobel prize winners who found a way to edit......more

Goodreads review by David

This book is about scientists and doctors who are genetically engineering humans. They are using CRISPR and other technologies to alter the DNA structure of embryos. The book focuses on Chinese scientist Dr. Jiankui He, who genetically altered two twin embryos. The purpose of the alteration was to r......more

Goodreads review by Alyssa

I rated this ⭐3.5/5⭐ I learned a lot from this book and it deepened my understanding and knowledge, about things I only briefly understood prior to reading. Looking into all of the different perspectives and situations in regards to gene editing and their pros and cons, was quite eye-opening to say th......more