CRISPR is coming to a bookshelf near you

The relatively brief history of CRISPR genome editing features a host of eurekas, billions in venture investment, and a seemingly eternal patent dispute. Now it’s getting the long-form nonfiction treatment.

At least four books on CRISPR are in the works, ranging from an examination on the present-day ethics of genome editing to an expansive look at the decades of scientific discovery that got us here.

Of note, one of the authors is Walter Isaacson, the historian behind best-selling biographies of Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs. And the authors, while ostensibly in competition for the public’s finite CRISPR appetite, all said they’ve been trading words of encouragement rather than literary taunts. (And before you ask, the two sides of that immortal patent fight aren’t playing authorial favorites.)

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