Genetic Engineering

Progress and Controversy

By: Scientific American

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Genetic engineering, which refers to the direct manipulation of DNA, became a reality in the 1970s. In this audiobook, we take a look at how far the field has come, starting with a revolutionary gene-editing tool called CRISPR that’s taking the research world by storm.

We then examine how CRISPR and other approaches are being investigated to treat disease, the fantastic-sounding research being done in synthetic biology, controversial efforts in modifying crops and saving species, as well as the numerous ethical issues raised in these areas.

©2018 Scientific American, a division of Springer Nature America, Inc. Scientific American is a registered trademark of Springer Nature America, Inc. (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Wonderful a bit out of date

A delightful reading of very good topics.

Masturbation is not genocide ! Classic.

Wonks it’s way through the opposition to messing with the eggs and preemies.

Match the color of your kid to the color scheme of their further bedroom.

Size maters and you can really get a lift from your 6’ 10” grandchildren dunking you in the whoop.
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Give those primates some booster building human concentration and speaking genes .
From a family whacked with ALS would be nice not to pay that price.

Che’

All good topics

This book brings up great topics with easy
explanations. Great overview of new genetic research.

Good content but poor narration

A nice collection of articles from Scientific American and other journals aimed at the non-expert wanted to learn more about advances in genetic engineering in animals and plants. It is helpful to have a solid background in biology to get the most from the articles. The stories are now somewhat dated, as most were published 5 years ago or more. The most annoying part of the book was the narration. The reader at times sound more like a robot than a person. The monotone, clipped reading can put you to sleep. The narrator also mispronounces numerous words in cringe-worthy ways, such as "glial" and "urea" for example.

Repetitive but some useful info

A collection of articles from different authors resulting in high repetition of content, but key concepts on the area is covered overall.

Out of date info/Dislike Narrator

This is irrelevant and not to be taken as current break throughs.
I wish there was a current version because the subject is extremely important and interesting.
I’m also not a fan of Bernadette Dunn doing the narration for the subject. She’s better paired with other styles and subjects because she uses dramatic inflections in her voice that makes everything sound like fictional drama. It grates my nerves, but she’s extremely popular with Audible. I suggest sampling prior to borrowing or buying. Or just find another current book.

Poorly edited. Mostly a survey of companies

Loved the first chapter, but then it's like episodes of "60 minutes". Stories about specific researchers and their start-ups, not information about how the techniques work. Little or no references from those not affiliated with a particular study.

This might be good if you were looking for places in biotech to invest as a day trader, but for me I wanted to find out more about how gene sequencing, CRISPR, and RNA vaccines actually worked to make medicines. Mostly the chosen articles were about benefits of the latest wonder drug, with very watered-down explanations.

I do think the choice of topics was well-rounded, and some articles go into detail about the disease mechanism. But the title should have been "A survey of hot companies doing genetic engineering".

This is the third, and most disappointing, of the Scientific American e-books I've experienced. For much more informative works, see Black holes and Dinosaurs.