Publisher Description

Hidden in a nondescript red-brick building in Rockville, Maryland, is the most unusual warehouse in the world, a bank of living cells called the American Type Culture Collection. Here, at 321 degrees below zero--a temperature at which life abandons its vital dance and enters limbo, but without dying--are some 30,000 vials holding 60 billion living forms in suspended animation, including mouse kidney cells, turkey blood cells, armadillo spleen cells, and some 40billion human cells. These cultured cells are essential to modern biological research--in fact, cells today are the most intimately studied life forms in all of science, for both practical andphilosophical reasons. For one, all disease--from cancer and the common cold, to arthritis and AIDS--stems from cells gone awry. And cell research not only promises a cure for a wide variety of disease--it also holds the key to the mystery of life itself. In Life Itself, Boyce Rensberger, science writer for The Washington Post, takes readers to the frontlines of cell research with some of the brightest investigators in molecular, cellular, and developmentalbiology. Virtually all the hottest topics in biomedical research are covered here, such as how do cells and their minute components move? How do the body's cells heal wounds? What is cancer? Why do cells die? And what isthe nature of life? Readers discover that--contrary to what we may have concluded from pictures in our high school textbooks--cells teem with activity and that, inside, they "are more crowded with components than the inside of a computer." We learn that scientists now know of at least ten molecular motors that move things about inside the cell--in most cells, this motion is short because the cell is tiny, but in the single-celled nerve fibers that run from the base of the spinal cord to thetoes (measuring three or four feet in an adult human), molecular motors can take several days to make the trip. Rensberger describes the many fascinating kinds of cells found in the body, from "neuralcrest cells" (early in embryonic development, these cells crawl all over the embryo to the sites where they will pursue their fate--as nerve cells, or cartilage, or skin), to "dust cells" (nomadic cells in the lung that swallow and store indigestible particles, then migrate to the gullet where they themselves are swallowed and digested), to "natural killer cells" (millions of which roam the body looking for cancerous cells). We meet many of the scientists who have pioneered cell research, suchas Rita Levi-Montalcini--an Italian who, shut out of her lab during World War II, continued to experiment in her bedroom at home, making the discovery ("nerve growth factor") for which she won theNobel Prize--and American Leonard Hayflick, who proved that all human cells (except cancer cells) invariably die after about fifty divisions. Rensberger also provides an illuminating discussion of AIDS--revealing exactly why this virus is so difficult to defeat--and of cancer, explaining that before cancer can start, a whole series of rare events must occur, events so unlikely that it seems a wonder that anyone gets cancer at all. The solutions to the most pressing challengesfacing scientists today--from the efforts to conquer disease to the quest to understand life itself--will be found in the innermost workings of the cell. In Life Itself, Boyce Rensberger paints acolorful and fascinating portrait of modern research in this vital area, an account which will enthrall anyone interested in state-of-the-art science or the incredible workings of the human body.

Notes

Developmental biology title.

Author Biography

Boyce Rensberger has been a science writer and science editor for more than 30 years, including long stints at the New York Times and the Washington Post. He now directs the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Table of Contents

1. A Particle of Life ; 2. Molecular Motors ; 3. Animation ; 4. The Living-Room Cell ; 5. How Genes Work ; 6. One Life Becomes Two ; 7. Two lives Become One ; 8. Constructing a Person ; 9. Pumping Protein ; 10. Heal Thyself ; 11. In Self-Defense ; 12. Revolution ; 13. The Immortality Within

Review

"Life Itself is a wonderfully readable digest of everything currently known about the mechanisms by which living cells perform their myriad tasks."--The New York Times Book Review"Rensberger's wonderment and enthusiasm...literally leaps off the page....it is hard to imagine a better way to convey to students the thrill of looking down a microscope at a living cell ."--Nature"Life Itself provides to those of us who teach science an enthralling, compelling, and eloquent account of cell research. He uses extraordinary metaphors without jeopardizing accuracy to explain wonderfully complex structures and processes.... I found his blending of the historical with the current discoveries in cell biology and acknowledgement each is of equal value. I am already using Life Itself in my laboratory and lecture classes....Rensberger's book has provided to me more inspiration to share enthusiastically with my students the everyday miracles and wonders each of them are."-- David A. Harbster, Instructor of Biology"Life Itself is a wonderfully readable digest of everything currently known about the mechanisms by which living cells perform their myriad tasks."--The New York Times Book Review"This book is a great education in the powers of ordinary language, poetically arranged to explain, to inspire, and to heighten curiosity in non-scientists and scientists alike."--Washington Post"Rensberger has the two essential qualities of a first-rate science journalist: he grasps what is important, and he presents it in a clear, entertaining manner. [ife Itself] is an exemplary introduction to a part of science, cell biology, that is of crucial importance to everyone but still understood by extremely few." Edward O. Wilson, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University"An elegant, authoritative, yet felicitously written book that will appeal to anyone who is interested in how cells work....a compelling portrait of terrestrial life in its many guises."--New Scientist"Rensberger's wonderment and enthusiasm...literally leaps off the page....it is hard to imagine a better way to convey to students the thrill of looking down a microscope at a living cell--and they get a pretty respectable introduction to cell structure and function thrown in for good measure."--Nature"A book so clear and exciting that one keeps turning pages as in a novel, to see what will happen next. His book captures the thrill of scientific discovery and the power of the questions that remain."--Philadelphia Inquirer

Promotional

A colorful and fascinating portrait of modern research into the fundamental unit of life: the cell

Kirkus UK Review

Boldly borrowing the title of one of the best books by Francis Crick, the science writer of the Washington Post has written a very different book, about the workings of the cell. This leads him into discussions of cancer, genetics, reproduction and development, packing an enormous amount of information into a relatively small volume. It is unfortunate that the illustrations do not provide more support for the densely packed text but, although by no means a light read, Life Itself is still a rewarding one for anyone seriously interested in the way the human body works. (Kirkus UK)

Long Description

Hidden in a nondescript red-brick building in Rockville, Maryland, is the most unusual warehouse in the world, a bank of living cells called the American Type Culture Collection. Here, at 321 degrees below zero--a temperature at which life abandons its vital dance and enters limbo, but without dying--are some 30,000 vials holding 60 billion living forms in suspended animation, including mouse kidney cells, turkey blood cells, armadillo spleen cells, and some 40
billion human cells. These cultured cells are essential to modern biological research--in fact, cells today are the most intimately studied life forms in all of science, for both practical and philosophical reasons. For one, all disease--from cancer and the common cold, to arthritis and AIDS--stems from
cells gone awry. And cell research not only promises a cure for a wide variety of disease--it also holds the key to the mystery of life itself. In Life Itself, Boyce Rensberger, science writer for The Washington Post, takes readers to the frontlines of cell research with some of the brightest investigators in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. Virtually all the hottest topics in biomedical research are covered here, such as how do cells and their
minute components move? How do the body's cells heal wounds? What is cancer? Why do cells die? And what is the nature of life? Readers discover that--contrary to what we may have concluded from pictures in our high school textbooks--cells teem with activity and that, inside, they "are more crowded with components than
the inside of a computer." We learn that scientists now know of at least ten molecular motors that move things about inside the cell--in most cells, this motion is short because the cell is tiny, but in the single-celled nerve fibers that run from the base of the spinal cord to the toes (measuring three or four feet in an adult human), molecular motors can take several days to make the trip. Rensberger describes the many fascinating kinds of cells found in the body, from "neural crest cells"
(early in embryonic development, these cells crawl all over the embryo to the sites where they will pursue their fate--as nerve cells, or cartilage, or skin), to "dust cells" (nomadic cells in the lung that swallow and store indigestible particles, then migrate to the gullet where they themselves are
swallowed and digested), to "natural killer cells" (millions of which roam the body looking for cancerous cells). We meet many of the scientists who have pioneered cell research, such as Rita Levi-Montalcini--an Italian who, shut out of her lab during World War II, continued to experiment in her bedroom at home, making the discovery ("nerve growth factor") for which she won the Nobel Prize--and American Leonard Hayflick, who proved that all human cells (except cancer cells) invariably die
after about fifty divisions. Rensberger also provides an illuminating discussion of AIDS--revealing exactly why this virus is so difficult to defeat--and of cancer, explaining that before cancer can start, a whole series of rare events must occur, events so unlikely that it seems a wonder that anyone
gets cancer at all. The solutions to the most pressing challenges facing scientists today--from the efforts to conquer disease to the quest to understand life itself--will be found in the innermost workings of the cell. In Life Itself, Boyce Rensberger paints a colorful and fascinating portrait of modern research in this vital area, an account which will enthrall anyone interested in state-of-the-art science or the incredible workings of the human body.

Review Text

"Life Itself is a wonderfully readable digest of everything currently known about the mechanisms by which living cells perform their myriad tasks."--The New York Times Book Review
"Rensberger's wonderment and enthusiasm...literally leaps off the page....it is hard to imagine a better way to convey to students the thrill of looking down a microscope at a living cell ."--Nature
"Life Itself provides to those of us who teach science an enthralling, compelling, and eloquent account of cell research. He uses extraordinary metaphors without jeopardizing accuracy to explain wonderfully complex structures and processes.... I found his blending of the historical with the current discoveries in cell biology and acknowledgement each is of equal value. I am already using Life Itself in my laboratory and lecture classes....
Rensberger's book has provided to me more inspiration to share enthusiastically with my students the everyday miracles and wonders each of them are."-- David A. Harbster, Instructor of Biology
"Life Itself is a wonderfully readable digest of everything currently known about the mechanisms by which living cells perform their myriad tasks."--The New York Times Book Review
"This book is a great education in the powers of ordinary language, poetically arranged to explain, to inspire, and to heighten curiosity in non-scientists and scientists alike."--Washington Post
"Rensberger has the two essential qualities of a first-rate science journalist: he grasps what is important, and he presents it in a clear, entertaining manner. [
ife Itself] is an exemplary introduction to a part of science, cell biology, that is of crucial importance to everyone but still understood by extremely few." Edward O. Wilson, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
"An elegant, authoritative, yet felicitously written book that will appeal to anyone who is interested in how cells work....a compelling portrait of terrestrial life in its many guises."--New Scientist
"Rensberger's wonderment and enthusiasm...literally leaps off the page....it is hard to imagine a better way to convey to students the thrill of looking down a microscope at a living cell--and they get a pretty respectable introduction to cell structure and function thrown in for good measure."--Nature
"A book so clear and exciting that one keeps turning pages as in a novel, to see what will happen next. His book captures the thrill of scientific discovery and the power of the questions that remain."--Philadelphia Inquirer

Review Quote

"This book is a great education in the powers of ordinary language, poetically arranged to explain, to inspire, and to heighten curiosity in non-scientists and scientists alike."--Washington Post

Feature

A colorful and fascinating portrait of modern research into the fundamental unit of life: the cell
Written by Boyce Rensberger, Science Writer for The Washington Post
Illuminates some of the hottest topics in biomedical research, from the efforts to conquer disease to the quest to understand life itself
Takes readers on an amazing tour of the innermost workings of the cell

Details