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536 pages, Hardcover
First published March 9, 2021
Franklin was a focused scientist, sensibly dressed. As a result she ran afoul of English academia's fondness for eccentrics and its tendency to look at women through a sexual lens, attitudes apparent in Watson's descriptions of her. "Though her features were strong, she was not unattractive and might have been quite stunning had she taken even a mild interest in clothes," he wrote. "This she did not. There was never lipstick to contrast with her straight black hair..."
While attending a conference in Puerto Rico in the spring of 2011, Doudna had a chance meeting with Emmanuelle Charpentier, an itinerant French biologist who had an alluring mix of mystery and Parisian insouciance.The book is littered with stuff like this, at least the portion I managed to hack through -- venture capitalists 'going into heat' at the mention of CRISPR, for example. Yech.
“I began this journey thinking that biotechnology was the next great scientific revolution, a subject that was filled with awe-inspiring natural wonders, research rivalries, thrilling discoveries, lifesaving triumphs, and creative pioneers such as Jennifer Doudna, Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Feng Zhang. The Year of the Plague made me realize I was understating the case.” --Walter Isaacson, in the epilogue of The Code Breaker
**REVIEW CONCLUDED IN COMMENTS**