Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction. Into the breach -- Part one. The origins of life. Hilo ; The gene ; DNA ; The education of a biochemist ; The human genome ; RNA ; Twists and folds ; Berkeley -- Part two. CRISPR. Clustered repeats ; The Free Speech Movement Café ; Jumping in ; The yogurt makers ; Genentech ; The lab ; Caribou ; Emmanuelle Charpentier ; CRISPR-Cas9 ; Science, 2012 ; Dueling presentations -- Part three. Gene editing. A human tool ; The race ; Feng Zhang ; George Church ; Zhang tackles CRISPR ; Doudna joins the race ; Photo finish ; Doudna's final sprint ; Forming companies ; Mon amie ; The heroes of CRISPR ; Patents -- Part four. CRISPR in action. Therapies ; Biohacking ; DARPA and anti-CRISPR -- Part five. Public scientist. Rules of the road ; Doudna steps in -- Part six. CRISPR babies. He Jiankui ; The Hong Kong summit ; Acceptance -- Part seven. Moral questions. Red lines ; Thought experiments ; Who should decide? ; Doudna's ethical journey -- Part eight. Dispatches from the front. Quebec ; I learn to edit ; Watson revisited ; Doudna pays a visit -- Part nine. Coronavirus. Call to arms ; Testing ; The Berkeley lab ; Mammoth and Sherlock ; Coronavirus tests ; Vaccines ; CRISPR cures ; Cold Spring Harbor virtual ; The Nobel Prize.

"The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a gripping account of how the pioneering scientist Jennifer Doudna, along with her colleagues and rivals, launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and enhance our children"-- Provided by publisher.

Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, Doudna and her collaborators turned ​a curiosity ​of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. Isaacson explores the development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. -- adapted from jacket