Book review - The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

First off, the challenge - how does one even begin to summarize a book that masterfully captures centuries of research on the various cells that make up the human body? It invites the reader on a journey inside many of these major cell types, uncovering the intricate ways they work together, revealing into what Dr. Mukherjee aptly calls the 'Song'.

Next up, relying on the possibility that evolution didn’t leave me behind, here's my take on it:

Read over several flights, this one is both huge and microscopic (or should I say, animalcule?) simultaneously. Dr. Mukherjee is undoubtedly one of the most eloquent science storytellers of our time. This is his third masterpiece, following 'The Emperor of All Maladies' and 'The Gene'. It offers an immersive journey into the vast, beautiful and messy world of cell biology and does a fantastic job of explaining why and how cells are the building blocks of life. It also delves into how, in the end, all medicine is 'cell therapy'.

If you're someone who finds biology fascinating, this book is a pure delight. Yes, it's a lengthy read and gets quite detailed at times, but trust me, it's a delightful treat nonetheless.

The Book in 3 Points

1. First off, it's key to remember that while individual cells are super important, this book is all about how they team up and work together.
2. Dr. Mukherjee kicks things off with how and when cells were first discovered. Then he splits the book into two parts, each dedicated to different types of cells. It's so interesting to revisit things such as pathogenic cells, blood, mitosis, and meiosis, not to mention evolution, and how tampered cells might be the culprits behind all diseases.
3. He skillfully gets into topics such as the pandemic, stem cells, IVF, cell therapies, and discoveries about insulin and pancreatic cells. He also dives into the FDA and the Thalidomide story. All in all, he manages to weave a massive topic into an engaging narrative that highlights what we know, and—most importantly—the great unknowns of cell biology.

Impressions

Having found myself utterly captivated by his first book, 'The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,' there was no way I was going to miss out on 'The Gene.'

'The Song of the Cell' is a wonderful fusion of science, history, and personal story. It's a fascinating read, bursting with intricate details about genetics, personal experiences, and thought-provoking interviews. A standout moment for me was his recounting of talking to nurses at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where stem cells were first used as a treatment for leukemia. He paints a vivid picture of the early patients' struggles and the journey to this therapy becoming a standard treatment.

One thing that always strikes me about his writing is his fantastic use of metaphors. It's something I've always admired.. Sample these:

• “Hooke’s intelligence was phosphorescent and elastic, like a rubber band that glows as it stretches. He would enter disciplines and then expand and illuminate them as if by an internal light.”
• Blood? It is a conglomerate of organs, a system of systems. It has built training camps for its armies (lymph nodes), highways and alleys to move its cells (blood vessels). It has citadels and walls that are constantly being surveyed and repaired by its residents (neutrophils and platelets). It has invented a system of identification cards to recognize its citizens and eject intruders (T cells) and an army to guard itself from invaders (B cells). It has evolved language, organization, organization, memory, architecture, subcultures, and self-recognition. A new metaphor comes to mind. Perhaps we might think of it as a cellular civilization.
• “Unlike an antibody, a gun-slinging sheriff itching for a showdown with a gang of molecular criminals in the center of town, a T cell is the gumshoe detective going door to door to look for perpetrators hiding inside.”

Who Should Read It?

If you're someone who is already intrigued by the world of biology, then this book is an obvious pick for you. But even if biology is not your usual subject of interest, do not dismiss this book just yet. Dr. Mukherjee's eloquent writing and ability to weave scientific facts into an engaging narrative could just be the push you need to ignite an interest in this fascinating field.

Worthy Quotes

• “much of the nucleus remains a mystery: the doors to the command center of the cell are still partially closed. As one biologist put it, “We can only hope that what the geneticist J. B. S. Haldane posited on the cosmos will prove not to be true for the nucleus: “?‘Now, my suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”
• “But triumphalism fails in the face of more than six million deaths. The pandemic energized immunology, but it also exposed gaping fissures in our understanding. It provided a necessary dose of humility. I cannot think of a scientific moment that has revealed such deep and fundamental shortcomings in our knowledge of the biology of a system that we had thought we knew. We have learned so much. We have so much left to learn.”
• “Sight—real sight—requires insight.”
• “There's a story that quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli, as notoriously cantankerous as he was brilliant, supposedly read a student's paper and remarked that it was "so bad that it was not even wrong."

Summary + Notes

As I write the above, it becomes clear that I cannot summarize this one – it's just too vast a canvas to paint for a muggle like me. However, this is how the book is organized, and I hope you have been intrigued enough.

1. Discovery, The Original Cell, The Visible Cell, The Universal Cell, The Pathogenic Cell
2. The Organized Cell, The Dividing Cell, The Tampered Cell, The Developing Cell.
3. The Restless Cell, The Healing Cell, The Guardian Cell, The Defending Cell, The Discerning Cell, The Tolerant Cell.
4. The Pandemic.
5. The Citizen Cell, The Contemplating Cell, The Orchestrating Cell.
6. The Renewing Cell, The Repairing Cell, The Selfish Cell, The Songs of the Cell.

While the book takes sometime to rope it all, it is a journey worth your while.