KRISPR follows a gifted woman whose life evolves from a modeling career to a career in genetics and neuroscience that forces her into an ethical showdown. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I received some excellent advice from one of my colleagues who is a best-selling author. She said, “For your first book, write what you know.” This is what I know. The inspiration for my story comes, in a large part, from my personal life. My daughter was a model and a college student in midtown Manhattan. I hold a PhD in Genetics with a concentration in Neuroscience, and am a college professor in the Midwest, where I currently teach courses on these topics. When I first learned of CRISPR Cas 9 gene editing, I realized immediately that it was a revolutionary new technology that had tremendous promise for curing human disease, but that it also had the potential for abuse. I felt strongly that people should know about this technology, both its promise and its peril; and I thought: what better way to inform, educate, and entertain, than through a story? I believe that through storytelling, narrative brings science to life. Current research shows that storytelling is more effective at educating and informing than facts, and that facts alone often do not influence thinking.

The book treats genetics and neuroscience with real curiosity and detail. How did you approach researching and translating complex science for a general audience?

I believe my ability to research and translate complex science stems from my extensive training (doctorate), my teaching experience (professor), and my authentic curiosity and excitement about these fields. One of my favorite quotes is by the artist George Grosz. He said that exceptional artistry requires “endless curiosity, observation, and a great amount of joy in the thing.” I feel that these three things describe why I’m naturally drawn to science. I like to think deeply about things. In a basic sense, I like to have an understanding of why things happen the way they do in the natural world. This is exciting to me, and I like to share things I’m excited about. I’m particularly fascinated by the fields of genetics and neuroscience, just like the main character in my book, KRISPR. On page 13 of the book, it describes what fascinates her (and me) about these fields:

“Genetics and Neuroscience, on the other hand, were at the cutting edge. She was intrigued by the notion of understanding the genetic code: the entire blueprint for every single living thing in the universe (that would be both the “known” and “unknown” universe, as Dr. Gustaffason would never fail to remind his students). She was enchanted by the thought of elucidating the life story of every being, every ancestry, with all its profundity, with all its faults, with all its successes, with all its secrets, and above all, with all its messiness!

And Neuroscience, the study of the brain, that three-pound mass of gray and white matter that embodied the mind: every thought, every feeling, every memory. The good, the bad, the ugly. The entire spectrum, from the altruistic and the geniuses, to the feeble-minded and the psychopaths. The “Me” of every soul. Still, such a mystery, with so much not understood and left to be learned.

Sure, to the erudite student of neuroscience, brain anatomy is well known (perhaps even committed to memory). Every fold, every sulcus, every gyrus, every nucleus. Every structure is given a funky name like “pyramadus,” “amygdala,” “hippocampus”—but its connections, by which it integrates all that gives rise to the “Me,” were an intricate conundrum for sure.”

The Alzheimer’s storyline is particularly affecting. What made you want to include that element?

Again, personal experience. It was heartbreaking to witness my dad experience the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s. My mom, my siblings, and I were his primary caregivers. It really is the “long goodbye.” Late-onset Alzheimer’s runs in his family. A number of my aunts and uncles succumbed to it. As my cousins and my older siblings age, I can’t help but wonder if this dreadful disease, where one loses so much of their own self, will continue to prevail in our family. Will I get it? Will my children?

What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?

The ending of KRISPR sets the stage for a sequel. I plan to continue my “science through storytelling” endeavor in the sequel. A topic I’m currently fascinated by is brain organoids: clusters of millions of brain cells that are cultured in petri dishes. Organoids contain neurons that self-organize, fire electrical signals (action potentials), and model many brain activities. Some refer to them as “mini-brains” or “brains in a dish.” When you think of it, no other organ is as inaccessible for study as the human brain. Understanding how a healthy brain works can provide insight as to how it fails, and organoids derived from individuals with neurological disorders, particularly psychiatric disorders that are hard to model in animals (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder), could lead to the development of effective treatments. But at what point do the cells in one’s brain become sentient and have a “consciousness?”” At what point do your brain cells enable you to feel joy, pain…to think, to have memory? What happens if these developing organoids become sentient? Do they feel joy, pain? Can they think? Remember? I know it sounds like science fiction, but there are many respected research laboratories that are currently conducting research on organoids.
I’d love to have the sequel written within the next year or two.

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