Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing
By Kevin Davies

ISBN: 978-1-64313-308-9

Kevin Davies' Editing Humanity is fresh and riveting. Indeed, as the author acknowledges himself, much of the technology he describes has been developed in less than a decade. Davies' book takes a deep dive into CRISPR, the history of gene editing and genetic manipulation, and the ethical and moral implications of this work.

While the narrative feels largely non-linear, Davies weaves in and out of the more recent history of CRISPR development, providing his readers with flashback historical context when necessary and quick but detailed biographical sketches of key players. Davies also inserts himself into the narrative where relevant, explicitly highlighting the characters he's describing based on up-close and personal experience versus that of research and reporting from a distance. The resultant effect is a narrative with a very human voice, telling a very human story about a technology that has the ability to challenge all our preconceived notions about humanity and what it truly means to be human on a genetic level. It also provides the work with a unique level of journalistic integrity. If at any point while reading you have concerns that Davies has any biases, he very clearly articulates where they may lie. You don't get the sense he is hiding anything or has ulterior motives in his writing.

Davies starts, like all good authors do, with a prologue outlining his ultimate goals in writing the book. The result is a seemingly comprehensive history of CRISPR technology, complete with all the requisite contextualization to make it comprehensible to someone who isn't a geneticist.

Part I introduces the CRISPR technology itself—what it is, how it works and why we should care about the ramifications of where and when it is used. Of the book's four parts, Part I is probably the most technical, although Davies does an admiral job of walking readers through the biomechanics behind the system.

Part II is where things start to get—for lack of a better, more scientific word—quite juicy. Davies provides a neutral account of the CRISPR patent drama that unfolded following the technology's initial development, with Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier on one side and researchers from the Broad Institute on the other. One of the most insightful incidents of the dispute stemmed from an article introducing the technology written by Eric Lander for Cell. Lander, while lauding the work of the Broad Institute's researchers, failed to disclose his own biases in connection to the project as the president and founding director of the institute. Ultimately, the Broad Institute won the patent in dispute, although Doudna and Charpentier earned many others. And indeed, given that Doudna is widely regarded across the globe as the face of CRISPR, one might argue that she still won something much bigger.

In Part III, science fiction becomes science fact—and not for the best. Davies explores the work of a Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, frequently referred to by his surname initials, JK. JK became famous—and then quickly infamous—for his work, which resulted in the birth of two babies whose genetic code had been modified by CRISPR. Davies really digs into JK's story—where he came from, what his background was, what motivated him, and of course, where he ended up. Perhaps the most interesting takeaway from this section was the number of researchers and colleagues JK consulted with who encouraged or supported his work—yet were not implicated to the extent he was (i.e., no prison time).

CRISPR is cutting-edge technology, but the morality and ethics of it, as Davies makes clear, is heavy stuff. Part IV explores the many possible applications of CRISPR technology beyond human genome editing, such as improving agricultural products and outputs, or even organ growing and harvesting for transplant. Despite some of the more terrifying possibilities Davies outlines throughout the book, he ends on a hopeful note. CRISPR is not inherently an evil technology. How we choose to use it as a society will be telling. As one superhero's uncle once said: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Though much of its subject matter is historical, the book itself feels firmly rooted in the present, thanks to the references to the current COVID-19 pandemic and frequent callouts to popular culture—Rampage and #metoo were the standouts. Davies makes numerous references to conferences that should have happened or talks and events he had hoped to attend while researching his book that were cancelled as a result of the pandemic. These references to current cultural events and influences serve to further enrich the humanizing tone Davies has mastered so well in his work. He brings the high caliber work of esteemed scientists around the globe to a level that can be understood by those without the technical research background to conduct the scientific work themselves.

Review by Jeanette S. Ferrara, MFA