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

by Walter Isaacson

“I guess I noticed she was treated a bit condescendingly, but what mainly struck me was that a woman could be a great scientist,” Doudna says. “It may sound a bit crazy. I guess I must have heard about Marie Curie. But reading the book was the first time I really thought about it, and it was an eye-opener. Women could be scientists.”4 The book also led Doudna to realize something about nature that was at once both logical and awe-inspiring.