Gene Machine cover art

Gene Machine

The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome

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Gene Machine

By: Venki Ramakrishnan
Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
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About this listen

Everyone has heard of DNA. But by itself, DNA is just an inert blueprint for life. It is the ribosome - an enormous molecular machine made up of a million atoms - that makes DNA come to life, turning our genetic code into proteins and therefore into us.

Gene Machine is an insider account of the race for the structure of the ribosome, a fundamental discovery that both advances our knowledge of all life and could lead to the development of better antibiotics against life-threatening diseases.

But this is also a human story of Ramakrishnan's unlikely journey, from his first fumbling experiments in a biology lab to being the dark horse in a fierce competition with some of the world's best scientists. In the end, Gene Machine is a frank insider's account of the pursuit of high-stakes science.

©2018 Venki Ramakrishnan (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Biological Sciences Evolution & Genetics Genetics History History & Philosophy Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology

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This is a great account of what a typical work of a scientist looks like, in general. Particularly, I understood the struggle by student with an Indian background has to go through in an international arena while dealing with a bleeding edge topic in science.

Struggles of an India Born Scientist

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it can get a little technical and those sections require background reading and relistening at times too. stick with it though. this technical detail helps but is not necessary to enjoy the book.

excellent story, well written, well told. i

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How breakthroughs are made in science. The story of the collaboration and competition that cracked the structure and molecular function of the Ribosome.

As you’d expect there were quite a few bumps in the road along the way and a fair share of determination and hard work with a sprinkling of luck to measure. This sort has all of these.

Few scientist get the recognition for their work that they deserve. That is both regrettable and necessary.

Ask the right questions, use the right technology and work with the right people and maybe you might be lucky.

Science embodies the human spirit. Science is the winner regardless of the trials and tribulations of individual scientists.

Great story.



Cracking the Ribosomes

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Fascinating, engaging story of how a former physicist helped to solve one of the fundamental mysteries in molecular biology. Also, an interesting insight into the academic politics and professional rivalries that often mar scientific research.

Scientific storytelling at its very best

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I really struggled with this book despite being a highly motivated reader (work at a biotech and keen to learn about genes and ribosomes). I only made it about halfway through and up to that point it was entirely biography, giving elaborate details of the author's friends dating habits but very little information about biological discoveries. What was included on crystallography was incredibly dry and elucidated nothing around the processes of going from genes to biology.

Too much biography not enough ribosome

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I enjoyed the Gene Machine, it provided a good overview of a variety of scientific areas that most of the time the public don't get in contact with. It also had some well thought out opinions on the state of science and gave some interesting details about the race for the ribosome. I did at times find it a bit dry for such an interesting topic.

Informative

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