Nonfiction science book recommendations
Looking for a summer reading list? I haven’t read anything other than papers and textbooks in a while, so these aren’t new books, but they are some that have stuck with me.
The Philadelphia Chromosome: A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level, by Jessica Wapner, 2013
Tells the story of the development of Gleevec, a kinase inhibitor used to treat cancers including chronic myeloid leukemia, or CML. The inhibitor targets a rogue chimeric kinase formed when chromosomes join weirdly, in a form initially found in Philadelphia, hence the book’s name.
For the Love of Enzymes, by Arthur Kornberg, 1989
A firsthand account of pioneering enzymology from the Nobel Prize winner who discovered DNA polymerase. Really great look at how science slowly progresses over decades (with lots of hurdles) leading to that big break. Also details some really cool classic enzymology experiments.
The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug, by Barry Werth, 1995
Chronicles early research by the pharmaceutical company Vertex to develop a drug to treat cystic fibrosis. It gives an interesting look behind the scenes of pharma (at least how it was back then) and - more of interest to me - it shows how they used “rational design” with structural biology techniques to help them with their drug development. My grad school advisor, Dr. Leemor Joshua-Tor, lent me her copy early in grad school and I really loved it.
Madness and Memory: The Discovery of Prions--A New Biological Principle of Disease, by Stanley Prusiner, 2014
Tells the story of how he discovered prions, misfolded proteins that can cause other proteins to misfold and thereby allow a protein to be infectious, such as in the case of “mad cow disease.” Goes into the science as well as the skepticism he was met with continuously until (and even some after) he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery
Mapping Fate: a memoir of family, risk, and genetic research, by Alice Wexler, 1995
Tells the story of a family deeply and personally affected by Huntingtons disease. Written by a historian whose mother died from HD and whose sister, Nancy, and father, Milton, helped fuel the research into finding the genetic cause of the disease and pursuing treatments. It is a fascinating look at how scientists mapped genes but also a deeply affecting story of grappling with the implications of having a 50/50 risk of developing a fatal disease.
Emperor of all Maladies: a biography of cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee, 2010
A historical-present look at cancer biology and treatment - there’s also an accompanying PBS documentary that’s really good
The Gene: an intimate history, by Siddhartha Mukherjee, 2016
A historical-present look at molecular biology with another accompanying Ken Burns documentary (2020)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, 2010
Tells the ethically infuriating story of the woman HeLa cells come from. more on this here: http://bit.ly/henriettalacksstory
blog: https://bit.ly/bbbookrecs
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