Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a renowned Indian-American oncologist, biologist and author. He is best known for his book 'The Emperor of all Maladies: A biography of Cancer' that won Pulitzer prize and Guardian first book award. The government of India Conferred on him the Padma Shri in 2024. In an interview With Adam Rutherford, a well known geneticist and Science Communicator, Siddartha Mukherjee talks about the need to foster a cancer awareness and to promote healthy life Style to reduce the risk of Cancer.
Mukherjee says in the
interview With Adam Rutherford that actually one question," How did I get here,
Where am I going?" that was asked by one of his patients, made him come out
with his book, "The Emperor of all Maladies: A Short biography of cancer".
This book provides a comprehensive history of Cancer from ancient times to
modern research. Moreover, his research covers the Physiology of Cancer cells,
immunological therapy for blood cancer, and the discovery of the bone-Cartilage
forming Stem cells in vertebrate Skeleton. Mukherjee also talks about the
boundary drawn between 'disease' and 'desire' that is blurred now. He points
out the fundamental nature of Cancer that is in its evolutionary process, where
cells mutate and adapt to survive.
Mukherjee is of the
opinion that for the evolution of our understanding, identifying and curing cancer,
we are indebted to the discoveries of many eminent men. Among them, there was
Robert Hooke, who found living things with Compound microscope in 17th century.
Then, there was Antony van Leeuwenhoek, who discovered bacteria in 1676. Then
we had Matthias Schleiden, who came out with cell theory in 19th century. Moreover,
the knowledge we acquired through our understanding of genetics and cell biology changed
the understanding on diseases. It also have paved the way for immunotherapy.
Actually DNA was pictured as life earlier. But actually DNA is lifeless, breathed to life by a cell. Their discussion is also has in it the fundamental pieces of biology, the Universality of Genetic Code, Genetic theory and evolution. Thus in the interview Mukherjee makes the viewers think about the historical milestones that have shaped human understanding of cells and about cell biology that has revolutionized medicine and Biotechnology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lreW8pcweYs
----Thulasidharan V
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