Screen LibraryThe song of the cell : an exploration of medicine and the new human /
Since the discovery of the cell in the 1660s and the discovery in the 1850s that most diseases can be traced back to our cells, human beings have been understood as an ecosystem of units that produce exponentially complex structures and effects. How did we discover these units, and their functions?...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Published: |
The Bodley Head,
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| Publisher Address: | London : |
| Publication Dates: | 2022. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
Since the discovery of the cell in the 1660s and the discovery in the 1850s that most diseases can be traced back to our cells, human beings have been understood as an ecosystem of units that produce exponentially complex structures and effects. How did we discover these units, and their functions? How did we begin to understand hearts, brains, kidneys as collections of cooperating cells? What are cells anyway? How do they work, and how (why?) do they work together? Why build organs and organisms out of these units? And could we re-assemble a new kind of human? Could we alter cells to become resistant to diseases? Could we make new humans out of new kinds cells, endowed with novel properties, functions or intentions? This book is about the building block of life -- the cell. Its story is the story of modern medicine. |
| Carrier Form: | xvii, 473 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781847925978 1847925979 9781847925985 1847925987 |
| Index Number: | QH573 |
| CLC: | Q2-09 |
| Call Number: | Q2-09/M953 |
| Contents: | Prelude: "The elementary particles of organisms" -- Introduction: "We shall always return to the cell" -- Part one: Discovery -- The original cell: an invisible world -- The visible cell: "Fictitious stories about the little animals" -- The universal cell: "The smallest particle of this little world" -- The pathogenic cell: microbes, infections, and the antibiotic revolution -- Part two: The one and the many -- The organized cell: the interior anatomy of the cell -- The dividing cell: cellular reproduction and the birth of IVF -- The tampered cell: Lulu, Nana, and the transgressions of trust -- The developing cell: a cell becomes an organism -- Part three: Blood -- The restless cell: circles of blood -- The healing cell: platelets, clots, and a "modern epidemic" -- The guardian cell: neutrophils and their kampf against pathogens -- The defending cell: when a body meets a body -- The discerning cell: the subtle intelligence of the T cell -- The tolerant cell: the self, horror antitoxicus, and immunotherapy -- Part four: Knowledge -- The pandemic -- Part five: Organs -- The citizen cell: the benefits of belonging -- The contemplating cell: the many-minded neuron -- The orchestrating cell: homeostasis, fixity, and balance -- Part six: Rebirth -- The renewing cell: stem cells and the birth of transplantation -- The repairing cell: injury, decay, and constancy -- The selfish cell: the ecological equation and cancer -- The songs of the cell -- Epilogue: "Better versions of me". |