Gene Machine
The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome
1st Edition
Published on 6. November 2018
288 pages
978-0-465-09337-3 (ISBN)
Description
A Nobel Prize-winning biologist tells the riveting story of his race to discover the inner workings of biology's most important molecule
"Ramakrishnan's writing is so honest, lucid and engaging that I could not put this book down until I had read to the very end." -- Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene
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.
"Ramakrishnan's writing is so honest, lucid and engaging that I could not put this book down until I had read to the very end." -- Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene
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.
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11/2018
Basic Civitas Books
€43.51
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Person
Venki Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for uncovering the structure of the ribosome. He is a senior scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, and was the president of the Royal Society in London from 2015-2020.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Table of Contents
- Dedication
- Foreword, J. A. Doudna
- Prologue
- CHAPTER 1 An Unexpected Change of Plans in America
- CHAPTER 2 Stumbling into the Ribosome
- CHAPTER 3 Seeing the Invisible
- CHAPTER 4 The First Crystals of the Machine
- CHAPTER 5 Going to the Mecca of Crystallography
- CHAPTER 6 Emerging from the Primordial Mist
- CHAPTER 7 A Threshold Is Crossed
- CHAPTER 8 The Race Begins
- CHAPTER 9 Getting Started in Utah
- CHAPTER 10 A Return to Mecca
- CHAPTER 11 Coming Out of the Closet
- CHAPTER 12 Almost Missing the Boat
- CHAPTER 13 The Final Assault
- CHAPTER 14 Seeing the New Continent
- CHAPTER 15 The Politics of Recognition
- CHAPTER 16 The Ribosome Road Show
- CHAPTER 17 The Movie Emerges
- CHAPTER 18 The Phone Call in October
- CHAPTER 19 A Week in Stockholm
- CHAPTER 20 Science Marches On
- EPILOGUE
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Praise For Gene Machine
- Notes and Suggested Reading
