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Before setting out to devise regulations for genome modification, it is useful to pause to see how history led us to the task. The following books are on reserve in VCU's Cabell Library, at the Circulation Desk. They may be checked out for one day at a time. By our meeting on February 12, read at least the pertinent sections of one of the books. We need at least two people reading each book, so when you have decided which book to focus on, send an e-mail to everyone staking your claim. Be ready to serve as the spokesperson for your chosen book.
Mukherjee (2017) is a huge book, Kozubek (2018) is a sprawling book, and Doudna and Sternberg (2017) is undeniably a book. To help you make your way through them, I've provided in each case a distillation of the book's contents and advice on what are the most pertinent sections (green) and what are pertinent but dispensible (yellow).
- Siddhartha Mukherjee, "The Gene: An Intimate History" (2017)
This book gives a long but highly readable history of the concept of the gene, starting with Mendel and Darwing and ending with gene modification. It is well organized, so it's possible to pick and choose what you read. What is most pertinent to our task are the sections on the last major public uproar over gene changes (chapter on Asilomar) and the sections on gene therapy and genome modification. I've also thrown in sections on eugenics as a backdrop to a discussion on germline modification. See the
distillation.
- Jim Kozubek "Modern Prometheus: Editing the Human Genome with CRISPR-Cas9" (2018)
A significantly more critical narration of the rise of CRISPR as a genome editing tool and the personalities of those involved. This book gives the most background on the ethical viewpoints concerning gene therapy. However, it is maddeningly diffuse, and Kozubek loves to go off on excursions into literature and philosophy. It's nearly impossible to draw from it a logical outline, but, I've tried. See the distillation.
- Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg "A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution" (2018)
This is as much an autobiography as a history, from the viewpoint of a person (Doudna) will undoubtedly get a Nobel Prize for her work on CRISPRs. As such, it understandably focuses on her work at the expense of others', which is still a large chunk of the history of CRISPRs and its use in genome modification. There are also some sections connecting current events to the controversies of the 1970's and some attention paid to how CRISPRs work. The book is well organized, and it's easy to jump around if you like. See the distillation.
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