Modern Prometheus

Would you change your genes if you could? As we confront the 'industrial revolution of the genome', the recent discoveries of Crispr-Cas9 technologies are offering, for the first time, cheap and effective methods for editing the human genome. This opens up startling new opportunities as well as significant ethical uncertainty. Tracing events across a fifty-year period, from the first gene splicing techniques to the present day, this is the story of gene editing - the science, the impact and the potential. Kozubek weaves together the fascinating stories of many of the scientists involved in the development of gene editing technology. Along the way, he demystifies how the technology really works and provides vivid and thought-provoking reflections on the continuing ethical debate. This updated paperback edition contains all the very latest on the patent battle over Crisp and the applications of Crispr technology in agriculture and medicine.

• Revised and updated paperback edition tells the dramatic, interwoven stories of the scientists and their discoveries that led to the discovery of Crispr, the revolutionary genome editing tool
• Covers the very latest on the patent battle over Crispr and provides thought-provoking insights into the impact and ethical dilemmas of the Crispr world that we all now live in
• This updated edition covers the very latest uses of Crispr technology in medicine and agriculture, including the recent FDA approval of the first gene therapy drugs in the United States, the birth of the first Crispr-modified pigs to provide organs for human transplant and the first application of Crispr to a human embryo