Review: The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Review: The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee

BySyed Saad Ahmed
Mar 10, 2023 05:44 PM IST

In his latest book, Mukherjee argues that we need to look at the interconnectedness between the trillions of cells in the body as well as between cells and the environment

Growing up in a family of doctors, I was fascinated by how they could hold forth about organs and diseases as if they were entities independent of the individual in which they resided. This conception of the human body as an amalgamation has a flip side, which Rajeev Kurapati talks about in his book Physician: “Physicians and biologists use the term ‘mechanism’ liberally in describing a disease process or an organic function. We describe our bodies as being made up of ‘parts’ instead of referring to them as ‘features’... Treating patients solely like machines, who need to be fixed, forces them to feel just that: like objects to be passed down the conveyor belt.”

A 3D rendering of red blood cells. (Shutterstock)
A 3D rendering of red blood cells. (Shutterstock)

576pp, ₹799; Penguin
576pp, ₹799; Penguin

Siddhartha Mukherjee rejects this atomistic view of the human body and proposes an alternative conception in his latest book, The Song of the Cell. He argues that we need to look at the interconnectedness between the trillions of cells in the body as well as between cells and the environment. In these connections could lie answers to medical mysteries. Mukherjee catalogues some of these enigmas in the book: Why do patients who describe their depression as an “existential ennui” typically not respond to deep brain stimulation, while those that describe themselves as “falling into vertical holes” often do? Why do patients with certain neurodegenerative diseases have a lower risk of cancer?

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

When Mukherjee discusses biological concepts through songs and metaphors, there is no woolliness. He arrives at his conclusions through an examination of the cell — the simplest unit of life. His enquiry is not just restricted to what we know today about cells, but also how that knowledge came to be. Take the microscope, which was invented in the late 16th century and enabled the cell’s discovery in subsequent decades. Dutch trader Antonie van Leeuwenhoek characterised his microscopic observations thus: “No greater pleasure has yet come to my eye than these spectacle of the thousands of living creatures in a drop of water”. Microscopist Nicolaas Hartsoeker inspected spermatozoa and imagined they contained homunculi — miniature humans “replete with head, hands, and feet, all tucked origami-like into the sperm’s head”.

There is a popular perception of science as an eternal truth, which scientists gradually uncover. In the initial days of the Covid-19 pandemic, many people were befuddled by the constantly changing scientific advisories, resulting in them believing that scientists didn’t know what they were talking about and opting for unproven, even dangerous, remedies that charlatans confidently proffered.

In a 2020 article in The Guardian, physicist Jim Al-Khalili wrote: “People are searching for certainty about coronavirus, and that’s the opposite of what leads to scientific breakthroughs… It has never been more important to communicate the way science works. In politics, admitting a mistake is seen as a form of weakness. It’s quite the opposite in science, where making mistakes is a cornerstone of knowledge. Replacing old theories and hypotheses with newer, more accurate ones allows us to gain a deeper understanding of a subject.”

READ MORE: Interview: Siddhartha Mukherjee, author, The Song of the Cell

In a similar vein, by highlighting the evolution of medicine — the missteps along with the steps — Mukherjee punctures the notion of a singular trajectory towards scientific progress. These different trajectories are most prominent when he discusses vaccination. According to him, “the story of vaccination is not the story of progressive scientific rationalism… Rather, its history is one of veiled hearsay, gossip, and myth. Its heroes are nameless: the Chinese doctors who air-dried the first pox pustules; the mysterious sect of worshippers of Shitala who ground viral matter with boiled rice and inoculated it into children; the Sudanese healers who came to discern the ripest lesions.” A more contemporary example he cites is of the chemist Linus Pauling, who proposed an “answer so wrong that it would eventually point to the truth”.

Mukherjee’s delineation of hilarious misconceptions; missed opportunities; social prejudices impinging on scientific knowledge; and researchers who were initially ignored or ridiculed and later feted reinforces why we might need to revisit current medical approaches. This is not to say that these approaches are wrong — they might be useful for certain kinds of treatments, but not as much for others. An analogy would be Newtonian physics vis-a-vis quantum physics. The former applies to macroscopic objects and explains many everyday phenomena — most famously, why an apple falls down from a tree. However, the latter has better explanatory power when it comes to minuscule particles or movement at the speed of light.

Author Siddhartha Mukherjee (Deborah Feingold)
Author Siddhartha Mukherjee (Deborah Feingold)

Like Mukherjee’s other books, The Song of the Cell is profoundly personal. He not only delves into his friends, colleagues, and patients’ lives and experiences, but also his own — ageing, his father’s death, and his subsequent struggle with depression. There are also anecdotes seemingly beyond the pale of medicine, such as an internist advising him, “Don’t forget to smell the patient” or a Tibetan doctor checking his friend’s pulse and diagnosing heartbreak.

Besides, Mukherjee writes about complex bodily systems and novel technologies with remarkable lucidity, though comprehension eluded me in a couple of sections, such as when he delves into the immune system’s intricacies. But for the most part, his intimate, forthright writing makes the book as breezy a read as it is illuminating.

Would the paradigm shift Mukherjee proposes solve niggling medical conundrums? To paraphrase him, albeit out of context, we don’t even know what things we don’t know. And investigating his hypotheses, even if they turn out to be wrong, is a step to formulating ones that can yield medical breakthroughs. And therein lies the beauty and brilliance of science.

Syed Saad Ahmed is a writer and communications professional.

Unlock a world of Benefits with HT! From insightful newsletters to real-time news alerts and a personalized news feed – it's all here, just a click away! -Login Now!
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On