The Language of Life

Cooperation requires conversation. Human beings speak to one another.
Sounds, scents, and postures allow animals to make their point. While individual
cells can't talk, hiss, growl, or bare their teeth, they nevertheless communicate
regularly. Their language is based not on words or gestures, but on chemistry
—using molecules where we would use words, constructing sentences from
chains of proteins. The cells that make up the bodies of muticellular organisms
inform, wheedle, command, exhort, reassure, nurture, criticize, and instruct
each other to direct every physiological function, report every newsworthy
event, record every memory, heal every wound. And each of those chemical
conversations represents an opportunity for scientists and physicians.

The molecular biologists who worked for over a decade to sequence the
human genome have sometimes referred to that sequence as the "book of life."
To our cells, that "book" is no more than a dictionary—only living cells can
converse, forming the network that allows our 60 trillion cells to function as a
single organism.



For nearly a century, researchers have been straining to hear the whispered
conversations among cells, hoping to master the basics of their language. They
know that if we can decipher and
translate this cellular chatter, we have
the potential for sending signals of our
own that could repair wounds, reduce
cholesterol, control insulin levels, or
even block the reproduction of cancer
cells. The possibilities are as endless as
they are intriguing. The Language of
Life is a fantastic story of discovery,
blending the vision of science with the
poetry of life itself.


Table of Contents


Front Matter
Introduction
1 Small Talk
2 Build It and They Will Talk
3 Plaiting the Net
4 Life in the Balance
5 "The Scenario-Buffered Building"
6 The Virtual Cell
Notes
Acknowledgements
Index