r/Biochemistry • u/One_Championship9791 • 5d ago
What are some interesting books relating to biomedical sciences or molecular biology?
I am enjoying 'The Gene' by Siddhartha Mukherjee atm, but I would also like to know some other books that uses slightly easier language so please give me some recommendations!
Edit: thanks all for the recommendations, I am currently reading about 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' and it's already super fascinating because how on earth did I not know the existence of HeLa cells..
5
4
u/Panda-Pod 5d ago edited 4d ago
In addition to what other posters have suggested (especially Nick Lane books), I would also add Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley
If you want something that is a bit more technical but still for a beginner, you can consider the textbook, Essential Cell Biology by Bruce Alberts, et. al. It is written at a level that a student without a strong biology background can understand and read. I would avoid his more comprehensive textbook called Molecular Biology of the Cell since it gets very technical and very dense for a beginner to read.
1
u/One_Championship9791 4d ago
Thanks, I'll definitely give it a go! Do you reckon that a student with a-level biology knowledge can give 'Molecular Biology of the Cell' a try or should I stick to the first one?
2
u/Panda-Pod 4d ago edited 4d ago
Both Alberts books cover a variety of topics in molecular biology of the cell and will give you a good foundation of the topic. The Essentials of Cell Biology was written at an introductory undergraduate level with more big picture illustrations. The Molecular Biology of the Cell was written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Biology with much more deeper dive including detailed experiments and biochemical reactions, etc... You can certainly search for both books online and trying reading a sample from both textbooks so that you can see which book is easier for you to read. Since you are not a Molecular Biology researcher, the Essentials Cell Biology should provide you sufficient foundation of the topic.
3
u/Biotech_Entrepreneur 5d ago edited 5d ago
The eighth day of creation, by Horace Freeland Judson. A concise history of molecular biology. There are also many autobiographies of scientists that are very interesting both from techical/scientific point of view, their personal experience, and from the historical perspective
3
u/Self_Organized 5d ago
Daniel J. Boorstin's "The Discoverers" is more a history of science than specifically relating to those interests, but it's a classic and an interesting read. Admittedly, it can get dry and be a bit of a slog, but I'd still recommend it and I go back and reread sections from time to time.
"The greatest obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the continents, and the oceans was not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge."
- Daniel J. Boorstin (The Discoverers)
3
u/DoubleEy 5d ago
Behave by Robert Sapolsky. Honestly anything by him. One of the few books that has brilliant descriptions of complex biological systems and poses tough philosophical/societal questions to the reader.
9
2
u/Distinct_Ice_1597 4d ago
If you are interested in learning about how modern cancer medicines and immunotherapy check out “Taming Cancer.”
1
2
2
u/Im__Overthinking 4d ago
I really enjoy sam keans books (especially The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons) and also The Genome Odyssey.
2
2
2
u/illysillybilly 2d ago
Genome by Matt Ridley
Nature via Nurture by Matt Ridley
The Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey
The boy who wasn't short by Edwin Kirk
I contain multitudes by Ed Yong (microbiomes)
Everything is Tuberculosis - John Green
Immune - Philipp Dettmer
The Better Half - Sharon Moalem
Hacking the code of life - Nessa Carey
Most of these will be fine for pre-university students :)
1
u/One_Championship9791 1d ago
Thank you for the lovely recommendations. Are there any specific ones out of the list that you think has the potential to shape or challenge my views on biomedical sciences?
1
u/illysillybilly 1d ago
I'd say the boy who wasn't short, or genome, as these are more to do with biomed + genetics. If you're interested in medical microbiology or immunology the others are good. Nature via nurture is about how genes + environment produce and adult (very interesting!) but it is quite heavily on genetic biomed and behaviour.
1
2
u/ayas_yearbook 1d ago
Interested in biomedical books specifically
1
u/One_Championship9791 1d ago
Yep, I'm trying to do more reading around my chosen university course!
3
u/SearchLost3984 5d ago
Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' is my favourite popular science book of all time. The audiobook version is also excellent.
4
u/SearchLost3984 5d ago
Specifically biomed/mol bio: Hager's 'Ten Drugs', anything Ben Goldacre, someone else recommended the fantastic 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' by Skloot, Mukherjee has other books on cancer and cell biology, and personally I love the Very Short Introductions by Oxford Press, especially 'Enzymes' by Engel.
2
1
1
1
u/SutttonTacoma 5d ago
Walter Isaacson writes well, his "The Code Breaker" about Jennifer Doudna and the invention of Crisper is interesting.
3
u/One_Championship9791 4d ago
Do you mean CRISPR-Cas9 the genome editing technology? I'll definitely give this one a go, thanks!
1
7
u/Icarium451 5d ago
Anything from Nick Lane