The Song of the Cell

An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

By: Siddhartha Mukherjee

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Winner of the 2023 PROSE Award for Excellence in Biological and Life Sciences and the 2023 Chautauqua Prize!

Named a New York Times Notable Book and a Best Book of the Year by The Economist, Oprah Daily, BookPage, Book Riot, the New York Public Library, and more!

In The Song of the Cell, the extraordinary author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Emperor of All Maladies and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Gene “blends cutting-edge research, impeccable scholarship, intrepid reporting, and gorgeous prose into an encyclopedic study that reads like a literary page-turner” (Oprah Daily).

Mukherjee begins this magnificent story in the late 1600s, when a distinguished English polymath, Robert Hooke, and an eccentric Dutch cloth-merchant, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek looked down their handmade microscopes. What they saw introduced a radical concept that swept through biology and medicine, touching virtually every aspect of the two sciences, and altering both forever. It was 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 christened 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 reconceived as the results of cells, or systems of cells, functioning abnormally. And all could be perceived as loci of cellular therapies.

Filled with writing so vivid, lucid, and suspenseful that complex science becomes thrilling, The Song of the Cell tells the story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them, and are now using that knowledge to create new humans. Told in six parts, and 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 on what it means to be human.

“In an account both lyrical and capacious, Mukherjee takes us through an evolution of human understanding: from the seventeenth-century discovery that humans are made up of cells to our cutting-edge technologies for manipulating and deploying cells for therapeutic purposes” (The New Yorker).

Song of the cell is detailed and fascinating

Helpful, detailed cell biology and physiology from a researcher and physician who provides in-depth and accurate biology in terms that can be understood by non-biologists!

Good but…

This author is my inspiration and source of knowledge about cancer and cell biology for many years. I read all of his books and I love them. This book is a little bit chaotic and unstructured comparing to “Emperor… “. At the beginning he is referring to his own clinical tests which is very narrow perspective. I couldn’t go through organs chapter. Clearly this is not strongest part of the author. Also there are too many non-scientific thoughts that don’t fit to this book. I think that the author was on high pressure to publish yet clearly he had no vision for his next book. On the other hand “emperor … “ is one of the best books I’ve ever read. So this is unfair battle ;)

Beautiful Writing on a Complex Topic

Amazing survey on the history of cell biology and an overview of all the amazing medical innovations on the horizon. Highly recommend. Great book for anyone looking for a “Life Science Primer”.

the cell is singing

An excellent, historical yet prescient scientific exercise bringing together the past and present. Underscores the scientific rigor and lifelong dedication that eventually open a secret of nature. His final chapter should be read by any curious mind considering a career in biological research.

Phenomenal

Phenomenal book. Phenomenally narrated. Must read by physicians and lay people alike. If you’re early in your medical career, this one may perhaps even serve to redirect the trajectory of your chosen specialty.