Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing

PART I

O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is!

O brave new world,

That has such people in’t!

—William Shakespeare, The Tempest

“You can’t just boss bacteria around like that,” said the younger Mrs. Hempstock. “They don’t like it.”

“Stuff and silliness,” said the old lady. “You leave wigglers alone and they’ll be carrying on like anything. Show them who’s boss and they can’t do enough for you. You’ve tasted my cheese.”

—Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

“Progress in science depends on new techniques, new discoveries and new ideas—probably in that order.”

—Sydney Brenner