--- title: "25 Biology Quotes By Siddhartha Mukherjee" description: "25 Biology quotes by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Plus more from Siddhartha Mukherjee and more Biology sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics_1778114.png" --- > [“It took the full force of human genetics to bring sanity to the study of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics-to-bring-sanity-to-the-study/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics_1778114.png) > [“Freaks become norms, and norms become extinct. Monster by monster, evolution advanced”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/freaks-become-norms-and-norms-become-extinct-monster-by-monster/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_freaks-become-norms-and-norms-become-ext_2938313.png) > [“The gene provides an organizing principle for modern biology—and it tantalizes us with the prospect of controlling our bodies and fates.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/the-gene-provides-an-organizing-principle-for-modern-biology-and-it/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-gene-provides-an-organizing-principl_730209.png) > [“There is no such thing as perfection, only the relentless, thirsty matching of an organism to its environment. That is the engine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/there-is-no-such-thing-as-perfection-only-the-relentless-thirsty/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_there-is-no-such-thing-as-perfection-onl_1142550.png) > [“As I write this, organisms endowed with genomes are learning to change the heritable features of organisms endowed with genomes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/as-i-write-this-organisms-endowed-with-genomes-are-learning-to-change/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_as-i-write-this-organisms-endowed-with-g_1418288.png) > [“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-between-an-organism-s-genome-and-2/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_2110050.png) > [“The tightness of genetic linkage, in short, was a surrogate for the physical proximity of genes on chromosomes: by measuring how often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/the-tightness-of-genetic-linkage-in-short-was-a-surrogate-for-the/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-tightness-of-genetic-linkage-in-shor_334535.jpg) > [“If you prefer an “academic life” as a retreat from reality, do not go into biology. This field is for a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/if-you-prefer-an-academic-life-as-a-retreat-from-reality-do-not-go/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_academic-life_if-you-prefer-an-academic-life-as-a-retr_127763.png) > [“Evolution can craft perfectly adapted organisms, but not in an intentional manner: it is not just a "blind watchmaker", but also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/evolution-can-craft-perfectly-adapted-organisms-but-not-in-an/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_evolution-can-craft-perfectly-adapted-or_433379.jpg) > [“The double-helix has solved all three of the major challenges of genetic physiology using ingenious variations on the same theme. Mirror-image chemicals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/the-double-helix-has-solved-all-three-of-the-major-challenges-of/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/839/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-double-helix-has-solved-all-three-of_418384.jpg) > [“It is encrusted with history. Embedded within it are peculiar fragments of DNA-some derived from ancient viruses-that were inserted into the genome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-encrusted-with-history-embedded-within-it-are-peculiar/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-encrusted-with-history-embedded-wi_3121647.jpg) > [“A gene," Beadle wrote in 1945, "can be visualized as directing the final configuration of a protein molecule." This was the "action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-gene-beadle-wrote-in-1945-can-be-visualized-as-directing-the-final/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbb/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_a-gene-beadle-wrote-in-1945-can-be-visua_2516371.png) > [“Every generation of humans will produce variants and mutants; it is an inextricable part of our biology. A mutation is only “abnormal”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/every-generation-of-humans-will-produce-variants-and-mutants-it-is-an/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e58/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-generation-of-humans-will-produce_1943955.png) > [“Morgan had discovered an important modification to Mendel's laws. Genes did not travel separately; instead, they moved in packs. Packets of information…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/morgan-had-discovered-an-important-modification-to-mendel-s-laws/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e32/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_morgan-had-discovered-an-important-modif_447842.jpg) > [“Life may be chemistry, but it's a special circumstance of chemistry. Organisms exist not because of reactions that are possible, but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/life-may-be-chemistry-but-it-s-a-special-circumstance-of-chemistry/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c24/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_life-may-be-chemistry-but-it-s-a-special_1041125.jpg) > [“The fact that the genome also encodes genes to repair damage to the genome was discovered by several geneticists, including Evelyn Witkin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/the-fact-that-the-genome-also-encodes-genes-to-repair-damage-to-the/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-fact-that-the-genome-also-encodes-ge_2546876.png) > [“That this seemingly simple mechanism—cell growth without barriers—can lie at the heart of this grotesque and multifaceted illness is a testament to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/that-this-seemingly-simple-mechanism-cell-growth-without-barriers-can/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80c/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_that-this-seemingly-simple-mechanism-cel_512608.png) > [“Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female contributions into "material" and "message," but abstractly, he had captured one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning-of-male-and-female/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg) > [“It is dynamic. In some cells, it reshuffles its own sequence to make novel variants of itself. Cells of the immune system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-dynamic-in-some-cells-it-reshuffles-its-own-sequence-to-make/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-dynamic-in-some-cells-it-reshuffle_1285017.png) > [“But perhaps an even greater principle was at stake, Bateson realized. The flow of biological information was not restricted to heredity. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/but-perhaps-an-even-greater-principle-was-at-stake-bateson-realized/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_but-perhaps-an-even-greater-principle-wa_1284124.jpg) > [“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment. In some cases, the appropriate medical intervention to mitigate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-between-an-organism-s-genome-and/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_790069.png) > [“It is the impulse of science to understand nature, and the impulse of technology to try to manipulate it. Recombinant DNA had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-the-impulse-of-science-to-understand-nature-and-the-impulse-of/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-the-impulse-of-science-to-understa_517183.jpg) > [“It is conceivable that an interplay of genes and epigenes coordinates human embryogenesis. Let us return, yet again, to Morgan's problem: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-conceivable-that-an-interplay-of-genes-and-epigenes-coordinates/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-conceivable-that-an-interplay-of-g_874372.png) > [“Ants have a powerful caste system. A colony typically contains ants that carry out radically different roles and have markedly different body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/ants-have-a-powerful-caste-system-a-colony-typically-contains-ants/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_ants_ants-have-a-powerful-caste-system-a-colo_2929765.jpg) > [“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on-the-verge-of-transforming/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on_9498.png) ## Other authors on Biology - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-dawkins-78503.jpg) Richard Dawkins 67 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/richard-dawkins/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-jay-gould-87041.jpg) Stephen Jay Gould 40 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/stephen-jay-gould/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-e-o-wilson-31102.jpg) E. O. Wilson 29 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/e-o-wilson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-yuval-noah-harari-100.jpg) Yuval Noah Harari 26 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/yuval-noah-harari/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-carl-sagan-20994.jpg) Carl Sagan 21 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/carl-sagan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pierre-teilhard-de-chardin-75655.jpg) Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-frances-arnold-5774.jpg) Frances Arnold 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/frances-arnold/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-neil-degrasse-tyson-70683.jpg) Neil deGrasse Tyson 19 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/neil-degrasse-tyson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bill-nye-18005.jpg) Bill Nye 18 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/bill-nye/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-steven-pinker-87519.jpg) Steven Pinker 17 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/steven-pinker/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-ernst-mayr-33893.jpg) Ernst Mayr 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/ernst-mayr/) - [Elliott Sober 14 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/elliott-sober/) ## More by Siddhartha Mukherjee > [Most days, I go home and I feel rejuvenated. I feel ebullient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/most-days-i-go-home-and-i-feel-rejuvenated-i-feel-ebullient/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially superpose historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on-the-verge-of-transforming/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [When you immerse yourself in medicine you realise that hope is not absolute. It's not that simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/when-you-immerse-yourself-in-medicine-you-realise-that-hope-is-not/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“I had a novice's hunger for history, but also a novice's inability to envision it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/i-had-a-novice-s-hunger-for-history-but-also-a-novice-s-inability-to/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“Any extrapolation of history into the future presupposes an environment of static discovery—an oxymoron.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/any-extrapolation-of-history-into-the-future-presupposes-an/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/six-decades-and-two-years-no-more-than-a-passing-glance-of-time/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“We now know that cells have ancient detectors that recognize viral genes and stamp them with chemical marks, like cancellation signs, to prevent their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/we-now-know-that-cells-have-ancient-detectors-that-recognize-viral/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/familial-schizophrenia-like-normal-human-features-such-as/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“If you prefer an “academic life” as a retreat from reality, do not go into biology. This field is for a man or woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/if-you-prefer-an-academic-life-as-a-retreat-from-reality-do-not-go/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/but-the-pigs-seventy-pounds-of-porcine-weight-that-did-not-take/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/one-of-the-four-genes-used-by-yamanaka-to-reverse-cellular-fate-is/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [A breast cancer might turn out to have a close resemblance to a gastric cancer. And this kind of reorganization of cancer in terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-breast-cancer-might-turn-out-to-have-a-close-resemblance-to-a/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“But in 1960, oncology was not yet ready for this proposal. Not until several years later did it strike the board that had fired…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/but-in-1960-oncology-was-not-yet-ready-for-this-proposal-not-until/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“Mutants are necessary to maintain the essence of our selves. Our genomes has negotiated a fragile balance between counterpoised forces, pairing strand with opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/mutants-are-necessary-to-maintain-the-essence-of-our-selves-our/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/even-an-ancient-monster-needs-a-name-to-name-an-illness-is-to/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/siddhartha-mukherjee/#itemlist", "name": "25 Biology Quotes By Siddhartha Mukherjee", "numberOfItems": 25, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It took the full force of human genetics to bring sanity to the study of madness.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics-to-bring-sanity-to-the-study/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics_1778114.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics_1778114.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics_1778114.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It took the full force of human genetics to bring sanity to the study of madness.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Freaks become norms, and norms become extinct. Monster by monster, evolution advanced”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/freaks-become-norms-and-norms-become-extinct-monster-by-monster/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_freaks-become-norms-and-norms-become-ext_2938313.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_freaks-become-norms-and-norms-become-ext_2938313.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_freaks-become-norms-and-norms-become-ext_2938313.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Freaks become norms, and norms become extinct. 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That is the engine that drives evolution”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/there-is-no-such-thing-as-perfection-only-the-relentless-thirsty/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_there-is-no-such-thing-as-perfection-onl_1142550.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_there-is-no-such-thing-as-perfection-onl_1142550.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_there-is-no-such-thing-as-perfection-onl_1142550.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no such thing as perfection, only the relentless, thirsty matching of an organism to its…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As I write this, organisms endowed with genomes are learning to change the heritable features of organisms endowed with genomes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/as-i-write-this-organisms-endowed-with-genomes-are-learning-to-change/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_as-i-write-this-organisms-endowed-with-g_1418288.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_as-i-write-this-organisms-endowed-with-g_1418288.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_as-i-write-this-organisms-endowed-with-g_1418288.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As I write this, organisms endowed with genomes are learning to change the heritable features of organisms…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-between-an-organism-s-genome-and-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_2110050.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_2110050.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_2110050.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The tightness of genetic linkage, in short, was a surrogate for the physical proximity of genes on chromosomes: by measuring how often two features-blond-hairedness and blue-eyedness-were linked or unlinked, you could measure the distance between their genes on the chromosome.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/the-tightness-of-genetic-linkage-in-short-was-a-surrogate-for-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-tightness-of-genetic-linkage-in-shor_334535.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-tightness-of-genetic-linkage-in-shor_334535.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-tightness-of-genetic-linkage-in-shor_334535.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The tightness of genetic linkage, in short, was a surrogate for the physical proximity of genes on…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If you prefer an “academic life” as a retreat from reality, do not go into biology. This field is for a man or woman who wishes to get even closer to life. —Hermann Muller We”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/if-you-prefer-an-academic-life-as-a-retreat-from-reality-do-not-go/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_academic-life_if-you-prefer-an-academic-life-as-a-retr_127763.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_academic-life_if-you-prefer-an-academic-life-as-a-retr_127763.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_academic-life_if-you-prefer-an-academic-life-as-a-retr_127763.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you prefer an “academic life” as a retreat from reality, do not go into biology. 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Its sole driver is survival and selection; its only memory is mutation.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/evolution-can-craft-perfectly-adapted-organisms-but-not-in-an/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_evolution-can-craft-perfectly-adapted-or_433379.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_evolution-can-craft-perfectly-adapted-or_433379.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_evolution-can-craft-perfectly-adapted-or_433379.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Evolution can craft perfectly adapted organisms, but not in an intentional manner: it is not just a \"blind…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The double-helix has solved all three of the major challenges of genetic physiology using ingenious variations on the same theme. Mirror-image chemicals are used to generate mirror-image chemicals, reflections used to reconstruct the orginal. Pairs used to maintain the fidelity and fixity of information. \"Monet is but an eye,\" Cezanne once said of his friend, \"but, God, what an eye.\" DNA, by the same logic, is but a chemical-but, God, what a chemical.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/the-double-helix-has-solved-all-three-of-the-major-challenges-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/839/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-double-helix-has-solved-all-three-of_418384.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/839/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-double-helix-has-solved-all-three-of_418384.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/839/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-double-helix-has-solved-all-three-of_418384.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The double-helix has solved all three of the major challenges of genetic physiology using ingenious…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is encrusted with history. Embedded within it are peculiar fragments of DNA-some derived from ancient viruses-that were inserted into the genome in the distant past and have been carried passively for millennia since then. Some of these fragments were once capable of actively \"jumping\" between genes and organisms, but they have now been largely inactivated and silenced. Like decommissioned traveling salesmen, these pieces are permanently tethered to our genome, unable to move or get out. These fragments are vastly more common than genes, resulting in yet another major idiosyncrasy of our genome: much of the human genome is not particularly human.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-encrusted-with-history-embedded-within-it-are-peculiar/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-encrusted-with-history-embedded-wi_3121647.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-encrusted-with-history-embedded-wi_3121647.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-encrusted-with-history-embedded-wi_3121647.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is encrusted with history. 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A mutation is only “abnormal” in a statistical sense: it is the less common variant. The desire to homogenize and “normalize” humans must be counterbalanced against biological imperatives to maintain diversity and abnormalcy. Normalcy is the antithesis of evolution.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/every-generation-of-humans-will-produce-variants-and-mutants-it-is-an/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e58/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-generation-of-humans-will-produce_1943955.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e58/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-generation-of-humans-will-produce_1943955.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e58/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-generation-of-humans-will-produce_1943955.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every generation of humans will produce variants and mutants; it is an inextricable part of our biology. A…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Morgan had discovered an important modification to Mendel's laws. Genes did not travel separately; instead, they moved in packs. Packets of information were themselves packaged-into chromosomes, and ultimately in cells. But the discovery had a more important consequence: conceptually, Morgan had not just linked genes; he had linked two disciplines-cell biology and genetics. The gene was not a \"purely theoretical unit.\" It was a material thing that lived in a particular location, and a particular form, within a cell.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/morgan-had-discovered-an-important-modification-to-mendel-s-laws/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e32/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_morgan-had-discovered-an-important-modif_447842.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e32/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_morgan-had-discovered-an-important-modif_447842.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e32/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_morgan-had-discovered-an-important-modif_447842.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Morgan had discovered an important modification to Mendel's laws. 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Proteins enable these barely possible reactions, allowing us to live on the edges of chemical entropy-skating perilously, but never falling in.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/life-may-be-chemistry-but-it-s-a-special-circumstance-of-chemistry/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c24/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_life-may-be-chemistry-but-it-s-a-special_1041125.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c24/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_life-may-be-chemistry-but-it-s-a-special_1041125.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c24/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_life-may-be-chemistry-but-it-s-a-special_1041125.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life may be chemistry, but it's a special circumstance of chemistry. Organisms exist not because of…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The fact that the genome also encodes genes to repair damage to the genome was discovered by several geneticists, including Evelyn Witkin and Steve Elledge. Witkin and Elledge, working independently, identified an entire cascade of proteins that sensed DNA damage, and activated a cellular response to repair or temporize the damage (if the damage was catastrophic, it would halt cell division). Mutations in these genes can lead to the accumulation of DNA damage-and thus, more mutations-ultimately leading to cancer. The fourth R of gene phyisiology, essential to both the survival and mutability of organisms, might be \"repair.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/the-fact-that-the-genome-also-encodes-genes-to-repair-damage-to-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-fact-that-the-genome-also-encodes-ge_2546876.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-fact-that-the-genome-also-encodes-ge_2546876.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_the-fact-that-the-genome-also-encodes-ge_2546876.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The fact that the genome also encodes genes to repair damage to the genome was discovered by several…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That this seemingly simple mechanism—cell growth without barriers—can lie at the heart of this grotesque and multifaceted illness is a testament to the unfathomable power of cell growth. Cell division allows us as organisms to grow, to adapt, to recover, to repair—to live. And distorted and unleashed, it allows cancer cells to grow, to flourish, to adapt, to recover, and to repair—to live at the cost of our living. Cancer cells can grow faster, adapt better. They are more perfect versions of ourselves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/that-this-seemingly-simple-mechanism-cell-growth-without-barriers-can/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80c/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_that-this-seemingly-simple-mechanism-cel_512608.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80c/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_that-this-seemingly-simple-mechanism-cel_512608.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80c/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_that-this-seemingly-simple-mechanism-cel_512608.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That this seemingly simple mechanism—cell growth without barriers—can lie at the heart of this grotesque and…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female contributions into \"material\" and \"message,\" but abstractly, he had captured one of the essential truths about the nature of heredity. The transmission of heredity, as Aristotle perceived it, was essentially the transmission of information. Information was then used to build an organism from scratch: message became material. And when an organism matured, it generated male or female semen again-transforming material back to message. In fact, rather than Pythagoras's triangle, there was a circle, or a cycle, at work: form begat information, and then information begat form. Centuries later, the biologist Max Delbruck would joke that Aristotle should have been given the Nobel Prize posthumously-for the discovery of DNA.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning-of-male-and-female/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female contributions into \"material\" and \"message,\" but…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is dynamic. In some cells, it reshuffles its own sequence to make novel variants of itself. Cells of the immune system secrete \"anti-bodies\"-missilelike proteins designed to attach themselves to invading pathogens. But since pathogens are constantly evolving, antibodies must also be capable of changing; an evolving pathogen demands an evolving host. The genome accomplishes this counter-evolution by reshuffling its genetic elements-thereby achieving astounding diversity)s...tru...c...t...ure and g...en...ome can be reshuffled to form an entirely new word c...ome...t). The reshuffled genes generate the diversity of antibodies. In these cells, every genome is capable of giving rise to an entirely different genome.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-dynamic-in-some-cells-it-reshuffles-its-own-sequence-to-make/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-dynamic-in-some-cells-it-reshuffle_1285017.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-dynamic-in-some-cells-it-reshuffle_1285017.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-dynamic-in-some-cells-it-reshuffle_1285017.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is dynamic. In some cells, it reshuffles its own sequence to make novel variants of itself. Cells of the…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But perhaps an even greater principle was at stake, Bateson realized. The flow of biological information was not restricted to heredity. It was coursing through all of biology. The transmission of hereditary traits was just one instance of information flow-but if you looked deeply, squinting your conceptual lenses, it was easy to imagine information moving pervasively through the entire living world. The unfurling of an embryo; the reach of a plant toward sunlight; the ritual dance of bees-every biological activity required the decoding of coded instructions. Might Mendel, then, have also stumbled on the essential structure of these instructions? Were units of information guiding each of these processes? \"Each of us who now looks at his own patch of work sees Mendel's clues running through it,\" Bateson proposed. \"We have only touched the edge of that new country which is stretching out before us…The experimental study of heredity...is second to no branch of science in the magnitude of the results it offers.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/but-perhaps-an-even-greater-principle-was-at-stake-bateson-realized/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_but-perhaps-an-even-greater-principle-wa_1284124.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_but-perhaps-an-even-greater-principle-wa_1284124.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/740/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_but-perhaps-an-even-greater-principle-wa_1284124.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But perhaps an even greater principle was at stake, Bateson realized. The flow of biological information was…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 21, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment. In some cases, the appropriate medical intervention to mitigate a disease might be to alter the environment to make it “fit” an organismal form (building alternative architectural realms for those with dwarfism; imagining alternative educational landscapes for children with autism). In other cases, conversely, it might mean changing genes to fit environments. In yet other cases, the match may be impossible to achieve: the severest forms of genetic illnesses, such as those caused by nonfunction of essential genes, are incompatible with all environments. It is a peculiar modern fallacy to imagine that the definitive solution to illness is to change nature—i.e., genes—when the environment is often more malleable. 10.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-between-an-organism-s-genome-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_790069.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_790069.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-betw_790069.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment. In some cases, the…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 22, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is the impulse of science to understand nature, and the impulse of technology to try to manipulate it. Recombinant DNA had pushed genetics from the realm of science into the realm of technology. Genes were not abstractions anymore. They could be liberated from the genomes of organisms where they had been trapped for millennia, shuttled between species, amplified, purified, extended, shortened, altered, remixed, mutated, mixed, matched, cut, pasted, edited; they were infinitely malleable to human intervention. Genes were no longer just the subjects of study, but the instruments of study. There is an illuminated moment in the development of a child when she grasps the recursiveness of language: just as thoughts can be used to generate words, she realizes, words can be used to generate thoughts. Recombinant DNA had made the language of genetics recursive. Biologists had spent decades trying to interrogate the nature of the gene-but now it was the gene that could be used to interrogate biology. We had graduated, in short, from thinking about genes, to thinking in genes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-the-impulse-of-science-to-understand-nature-and-the-impulse-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-the-impulse-of-science-to-understa_517183.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-the-impulse-of-science-to-understa_517183.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-the-impulse-of-science-to-understa_517183.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is the impulse of science to understand nature, and the impulse of technology to try to manipulate it…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 23, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is conceivable that an interplay of genes and epigenes coordinates human embryogenesis. Let us return, yet again, to Morgan's problem: the creation of a multicellular organism from a one-celled embryo. Seconds after fertilization, a quickening begins in the embryo. Proteins reach into the nucleus of the cell and start flicking genetic switches on and off. A dormant spaceship comes to life. Genes are activated and repressed, and these genes, in turn, encode yet other proteins that activate and repress other genes. A single cell divides to form two, then four, and eight cells. An entire layer of cells forms, then hollows out into the outer skin of a ball. Genes that coordinate metabolism, motility, cell fate, and identity fire \"on.\" The boiler room warms us. The lights flicker on in the corridors. The intercom crackles alive. Now a second code stirs to life to ensure that gene expression is locked into place in each cell, enabling each cell to acquire and fix an identity. Chemical marks are selectively added to certain genes and erased from others, modulating the expression of the genes in that cell alone. Methyl groups are inserted and erased, and histones are modified to repress or activate genes. The embryo unfurls step by step. Primordial segements appear, and cells take their positions along various parts of the embryo. New genes are activated that command subroutines to grow limbs and organs, and more chemical marks are appended on the genomes of individual cells. Cells are added to create organs and structures-forelegs, hind legs, muscles, kidneys, bones, eyes. Some cells die a programmed death. Genes that maintain function, metabolism, and repair are turned on. An organism emerges from a cell.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/it-is-conceivable-that-an-interplay-of-genes-and-epigenes-coordinates/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-conceivable-that-an-interplay-of-g_874372.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-conceivable-that-an-interplay-of-g_874372.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-is-conceivable-that-an-interplay-of-g_874372.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is conceivable that an interplay of genes and epigenes coordinates human embryogenesis. Let us return…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 24, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Ants have a powerful caste system. A colony typically contains ants that carry out radically different roles and have markedly different body structures and behaviors. These roles, Reinberg learned, are often determined not by genes but by signals from the physical and social environment. 'Sibling ants, in their larval stage, become segregated into the different types based on environmental signals,' he said. 'Their genomes are nearly identical, but the way the genes are used—turned on or off, and kept on or off—must determine what an ant \"becomes.\" It seemed like a perfect system to study epigenetics. And so Shelley and I caught a flight to Arizona to see Jürgen Liebig, the ant biologist, in his lab.' The collaboration between Reinberg, Berger, and Liebig has been explosively successful—the sort of scientific story ('two epigeneticists walk into a bar and meet an entomologist') that works its way into a legend. Carpenter ants, one of the species studied by the team, have elaborate social structures, with queens (bullet-size, fertile, winged), majors (bean-size soldiers who guard the colony but rarely leave it), and minors (nimble, grain-size, perpetually moving foragers). In a recent, revelatory study, researchers in Berger’s lab injected a single dose of a histone-altering chemical into the brains of major ants. Remarkably, their identities changed; caste was recast. The major ants wandered away from the colony and began to forage for food. The guards turned into scouts. Yet the caste switch could occur only if the chemical was injected during a vulnerable period in the ants’ development. [...] The impact of the histone-altering experiment sank in as I left Reinberg’s lab and dodged into the subway. [...] All of an ant’s possible selves are inscribed in its genome. Epigenetic signals conceal some of these selves and reveal others, coiling some, uncoiling others. The ant chooses a life between its genes and its epigenes—inhabiting one self among its incipient selves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/ants-have-a-powerful-caste-system-a-colony-typically-contains-ants/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_ants_ants-have-a-powerful-caste-system-a-colo_2929765.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_ants_ants-have-a-powerful-caste-system-a-colo_2929765.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_ants_ants-have-a-powerful-caste-system-a-colo_2929765.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ants have a powerful caste system. A colony typically contains ants that carry out radically different roles…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 25, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially superpose historical and environmental information on cells and genomes—but this capacity is speculative, limited, idiosyncratic, and unpredictable: a parent with an experience of starvation produces children with obesity and overnourishment, while a father with the experience of tuberculosis, say, does not produce a child with an altered response to tuberculosis. Most epigenetic “memories” are the consequence of ancient evolutionary pathways, and cannot be confused with our longing to affix desirable legacies on our children. As with genetics in the early twentieth century, epigenetics is now being used to justify junk science and enforce stifling definitions of normalcy. Diets, exposures, memories, and therapies that purport to alter heredity are eerily reminiscent of Lysenko’s attempt to “reeducate” wheat using shock therapy. Mothers are being asked to minimize anxiety during their pregnancy—lest they taint all their children, and their children, with traumatized mitochondria. Lamarck is being rehabilitated into the new Mendel. These glib notions about epigenetics should invite skepticism. Environmental information can certainly be etched on the genome. But most of these imprints are recorded as “genetic memories” in the cells and genomes of individual organisms—not carried forward across generations. A man who loses a leg in an accident bears the imprint of that accident in his cells, wounds, and scars—but does not bear children with shortened legs. Nor has the uprooted life of my family seem to have burdened me, or my children, with any wrenching sense of estrangement. Despite Menelaus’s admonitions, the blood of our fathers is lost in us—and so, fortunately, are their foibles and sins. It is an arrangement that we should celebrate more than rue. Genomes and epigenomes exist to record and transmit likeness, legacy, memory, and history across cells and generations. Mutations, the reassortment of genes, and the erasure of memories counterbalance these forces, enabling unlikeness, variation, monstrosity, genius, and reinvention—and the refulgent possibility of new beginnings, generation upon generation.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siddhartha Mukherjee" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on-the-verge-of-transforming/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on_9498.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on_9498.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on_9498.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic…” — Siddhartha Mukherjee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/siddhartha-mukherjee/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/siddhartha-mukherjee/", "name": "Biology Quotes by Siddhartha Mukherjee", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/siddhartha-mukherjee/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_biology_it-took-the-full-force-of-human-genetics_1778114.png" }, "description": "25 Biology quotes by Siddhartha Mukherjee. 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