The Song of the Cell
An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
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The Song of the Cell
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Narrated by:
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Dennis Boutsikaris
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a number one New York Times best seller, comes his most spectacular book yet, about the fundamental unit of life. Rich with Mukherjee's revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer's exploration of what it means to be human.
In the late 1600s, a distinguished English polymath, Robert Hooke, and an eccentric Dutch cloth-merchant, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, look down their hand-made microscopes. What they see introduces a radical concept that sweeps through biology and medicine, touching virtually every aspect of the two sciences and altering both forever. It is the fact that complex living organisms are assemblages of tiny self-contained, self-regulating units. Our organs, our physiology, our selves—hearts, blood, brains—are built from these compartments. Hooke christens them "cells".
The discovery of cells—and the reframing of the human body as a cellular ecosystem—announced the birth of a new kind of medicine based on the therapeutic manipulations of cells. A hip fracture, a cardiac arrest, Alzheimer's dementia, AIDS, pneumonia, lung cancer, kidney failure, arthritis, COVID pneumonia—all could be re-conceived as the results of cells, or systems of cells, functioning abnormally. And all could be perceived as loci of cellular therapies.
In The Song of the Cell, Mukherjee tells the story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them and are now using that knowledge to create new humans. He seduces listeners with writing so vivid, lucid and suspenseful that complex science becomes thrilling. Told in six parts, laced with Mukherjee's own experience as a researcher, a doctor and a prolific reader, The Song of the Cell is both panoramic and intimate—a masterpiece.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Siddhartha Mukherjee (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Song of the Cell
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Matt
- 23-10-23
What an opus
I work in biology, after a 10yr career break I thought this would be a good listen. To revise and catch up with the world of cell biology.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 10-09-24
Essential reading for anyone interested in human biology
If you are studying Biology for A Level or at university this audio book will greatly support your studies. The book explains clearly all about cells and tissues and gives an interesting history of many of the discoveries that students take for granted. It is sprinkled with the passion that the author, an oncologist, has for his research and patients and demonstrates the labour of love required to invent a new treatment or drug.
There are some scientific gems which will make you an expert in your quiz team and some great information about personalised medicine in the treatment of various conditions such as COVID and diabetes.
It becomes a little too esoteric in my humble opinion when talking about specific gene modifications in the many types of cancer and some chapters can drag a little. However, once you pass through one chapter and you think the book has become a little too technical, you are hit by another great scientific story.
Well worth the effort and very informative.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-12-23
Great content bit wondering
Very important topics are well covered. Sometimes the personal stories go on a bit. Summaries per chapter are needed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sinéad
- 27-12-22
Enchanting- a remarkable journey through some of the most fascinating science
I had high expectations based on his previous two works and this did not disappoint. Incredible.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Andrew M Kimberley
- 02-03-23
A fascinating book, I couldn’t stop listening.
A fantastic book that follows the experiments which slowly developed our understanding of the cell all the way to recent cutting edge technology.
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- Liz
- 05-12-23
Fascinating
As a medical student, anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology are learned about in abstract. This book helps pull all the information together and give an overall understanding of how the ‘parts’ fit and work together. Excellent listen.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-03-24
Fascinating
Beautifully written and the process of discovery so well documented. I can see why this book was up for an awards.
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- Nicolas Matentzoglu
- 25-05-24
Captivating narration
Like the two major preceding books, the author finds a great balance between storytelling and explaining fundamentals. But what stood out for me this time was the narrator! Absolute recommend.
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- Suke
- 12-05-23
Fascinating
Great book. Fantastic to hear author. So interesting. Really good balance between anecdote and explanation.
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- KT
- 03-08-23
Flowing, fascinating book.
Beautiful, informative book written with an ebb and flow, vignettes of autobiography weaving the scientific information and knitting the whole together. Most enjoyable listen and the added pdf is an excellent resource.
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