Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Gene Machine

  • The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome
  • By: Venki Ramakrishnan
  • Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
  • Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (42 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Gene Machine

By: Venki Ramakrishnan
Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Everyone has heard of DNA. But by itself, DNA is just an inert blueprint for life. It is the ribosome - an enormous molecular machine made up of a million atoms - that makes DNA come to life, turning our genetic code into proteins and therefore into us.

Gene Machine is an insider account of the race for the structure of the ribosome, a fundamental discovery that both advances our knowledge of all life and could lead to the development of better antibiotics against life-threatening diseases.

But this is also a human story of Ramakrishnan's unlikely journey, from his first fumbling experiments in a biology lab to being the dark horse in a fierce competition with some of the world's best scientists. In the end, Gene Machine is a frank insider's account of the pursuit of high-stakes science.

©2018 Venki Ramakrishnan (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Billion Dollar Molecule cover art
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: Patterns, Proteins and Peace: A Life in Science cover art
A Crack in Creation cover art
Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine cover art
What Is Life? cover art
The Fate of Rome cover art
Zero to Birth cover art
From Breakthrough to Blockbuster cover art
Genentech cover art
How the Laser Happened cover art
Complexity cover art
The Genome Odyssey cover art
Oxygen cover art
Neanderthal Man cover art
The Innovators cover art
The Double Helix cover art

What listeners say about Gene Machine

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Struggles of an India Born Scientist

This is a great account of what a typical work of a scientist looks like, in general. Particularly, I understood the struggle by student with an Indian background has to go through in an international arena while dealing with a bleeding edge topic in science.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent story, well written, well told. i

it can get a little technical and those sections require background reading and relistening at times too. stick with it though. this technical detail helps but is not necessary to enjoy the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Cracking the Ribosomes

How breakthroughs are made in science. The story of the collaboration and competition that cracked the structure and molecular function of the Ribosome.

As you’d expect there were quite a few bumps in the road along the way and a fair share of determination and hard work with a sprinkling of luck to measure. This sort has all of these.

Few scientist get the recognition for their work that they deserve. That is both regrettable and necessary.

Ask the right questions, use the right technology and work with the right people and maybe you might be lucky.

Science embodies the human spirit. Science is the winner regardless of the trials and tribulations of individual scientists.

Great story.



Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Scientific storytelling at its very best

Fascinating, engaging story of how a former physicist helped to solve one of the fundamental mysteries in molecular biology. Also, an interesting insight into the academic politics and professional rivalries that often mar scientific research.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Too much biography not enough ribosome

I really struggled with this book despite being a highly motivated reader (work at a biotech and keen to learn about genes and ribosomes). I only made it about halfway through and up to that point it was entirely biography, giving elaborate details of the author's friends dating habits but very little information about biological discoveries. What was included on crystallography was incredibly dry and elucidated nothing around the processes of going from genes to biology.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Informative

I enjoyed the Gene Machine, it provided a good overview of a variety of scientific areas that most of the time the public don't get in contact with. It also had some well thought out opinions on the state of science and gave some interesting details about the race for the ribosome. I did at times find it a bit dry for such an interesting topic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!