The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race

by Walter Isaacson

Their choice of Berkeley is a testament to America’s investment in public higher education. Its roots stretch back to when Abraham Lincoln, in the middle of the Civil War, thought public education was important enough that he pushed through the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862, which used funds from federal land sales to establish new agriculture and mechanical colleges. Among those was the College of Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts near Oakland, California, founded in 1866, which two years later merged with the nearby private College of California. It became the University of California, Berkeley, and grew into one of the world’s greatest research and learning institutions. In the 1980s, more than half of Berkeley’s funding came from the state. However, since then Berkeley, like most other public universities, has faced reductions. When Doudna arrived, state funding accounted for only 30 percent of Berkeley’s budget. In 2018, state funding was cut again, and it amounted to less than 14 percent. As a result, Berkeley’s undergraduate tuition for a California resident in 2020 was $14,250 per year, more than triple what it was in 2000. Room, board, and other fees raised the total cost to around $36,264. For an out-of-state student, total costs were around $66,000 a year.