“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“gene (information -> encodes protein (form) -> enables function” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Freaks become norms, and norms become extinct. Monster by monster, evolution advanced” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“How can one capture genes that behave like ghosts," Weinberg wrote, "influencing cells from behind some dark curtain?” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Epigenetics, Waddington wrote, concerns "the interaction of genes with their environment (...) that brings their phenotype into being.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“We now know that cells have ancient detectors that recognize viral genes and stamp them with chemical marks, like cancellation signs, to… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“As I write this, organisms endowed with genomes are learning to change the heritable features of organisms endowed with genomes.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“There is no such thing as perfection, only the relentless, thirsty matching of an organism to its environment. That is the engine… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“In 1905, still struggling for an alternative, Bateson coined a word of his own. Genetics, he called it: the study of heredity… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“The gene provides an organizing principle for modern biology—and it tantalizes us with the prospect of controlling our bodies and fates.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“It has repeated elements that appear frequently. A pesky, mysterious three-hundred-base-pair sequence called Alu appears and reappears tens of thousands of times,… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Our knowledge of… molecular defects in cancer has come from a dedicated twenty years of the best molecular biology research. Yet this… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“It was a Rube Goldberg disease. A change in the sequence of a gene caused the change in the sequence of a… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Like the master score of a bewitchingly complex symphonic work, the genome contains the instructions for the development and maintenance of organisms.… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Six decades and two years, no more than a passing glance of time, separate Mendel's initial experiments on peas and the court-mandated… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“The experiments progress slowly," Mendel wrote. "At first a certain amount of patience was needed, but I soon found that matters went… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“The factor VIII project, both teams knew, would challenge the outer limits of gene-cloning technology. Somatostatin had 14 amino acids; insulin had… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“but perhaps within the next five to ten years, certain inborn errors . . . will be treated or cured by the administration of a… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Dimly, as if through a veil, geneticists were beginning to visualize patterns and themes: threads, strings, maps, crossings, broken and unbroken lines,… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“The Book of Man (in Twenty-Three Volumes) It has 3,088,286,401 letters of DNA (give or take a few). Published as a book… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“The fact that the genome also encodes genes to repair damage to the genome was discovered by several geneticists, including Evelyn Witkin… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Although we fully understand the genetic code-i.e., how the information in a single gene is used to build a protein-we comprehend virtually… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“It is the form of hemoglobin, then, that permits its function. The physical structure of the molecule enables its chemical nature, the… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“It is fiercely inventive. It squeezes complexity out of simplicity. It orchestrates the activation or repression of certain genes in only certain… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment. In some cases, the appropriate medical intervention to mitigate… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“In 1957, Pardee, Monod, and Jacob discovered that the lactose operon was controlled by a single master switch-a protein eventually called the… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“In the late 1970s, scientists working on gene-silencing discovered that the attachment of a small molecule-a methyl group-to DNA was correlated with… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“The helix contains two intertwined strands of DNA. It is "right-handed"-twisting upward as if driven by a right-handed screw. Across the molecule,… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“The gene responsible for creating white eyes (called white eyed), for instance, was inescapably linked to maleness: no matter how Morgan crossed… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“It is a testament to the unsettling beauty of the genome that it can make the real world “stick.” Our genes do… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“It is the impulse of science to understand nature, and the impulse of technology to try to manipulate it. Recombinant DNA had… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Second, the production of RNA Messages was coordinately regulated. When the sugar source was switched to lactose, the bacteria turned on an… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“By the end of this decade, permutations and combinations of genetic variants will be used to predict variations in human phenotype, illness,… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“One of the four genes used by Yamanaka to reverse cellular fate is called c-myc. Myc, the rejuvenating factor, is no ordinary… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“With DNA as with words, the sequence carries the meaning. Dissolve DNA into its constituent bases, and it turns into a primordial… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Evolution can craft perfectly adapted organisms, but not in an intentional manner: it is not just a "blind watchmaker", but also a… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“Mutants are necessary to maintain the essence of our selves. Our genomes has negotiated a fragile balance between counterpoised forces, pairing strand… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“In 1977, when Fred Sanger had sequenced the genome of the phiX virus, with 5,386 bases of DNA, that number represented the… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially superpose historical… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
When you immerse yourself in medicine you realise that hope is not absolute. It's not that simple. — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“I had a novice's hunger for history, but also a novice's inability to envision it.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“Any extrapolation of history into the future presupposes an environment of static discovery—an oxymoron.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“Six decades and two years, no more than a passing glance of time, separate Mendel's initial experiments on peas and the court-mandated sterilization of… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“We now know that cells have ancient detectors that recognize viral genes and stamp them with chemical marks, like cancellation signs, to prevent their… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“Familial schizophrenia (like normal human features such as intelligence and temperament) is thus highly heritable but only moderately inheritable. In other words, genes-hereditary determinants-are… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“If you prefer an “academic life” as a retreat from reality, do not go into biology. This field is for a man or woman… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“But the pigs--seventy pounds of porcine weight that did not take kindly to weekly endoscopies--did not sprout any ulcers. And testing the theory on… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“One of the four genes used by Yamanaka to reverse cellular fate is called c-myc. Myc, the rejuvenating factor, is no ordinary gene: it… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
A breast cancer might turn out to have a close resemblance to a gastric cancer. And this kind of reorganization of cancer in terms… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“But in 1960, oncology was not yet ready for this proposal. Not until several years later did it strike the board that had fired… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“Mutants are necessary to maintain the essence of our selves. Our genomes has negotiated a fragile balance between counterpoised forces, pairing strand with opposite… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
“Even an ancient monster needs a name. To name an illness is to describe a certain condition of suffering—a literary act before it becomes… — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share
