The Song of the Cell; An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

The Song of the Cell: A Masterpiece of Science and Storytelling

Winner of the 2023 PROSE Award for Excellence in Biological and Life Sciences and the 2023 Chautauqua Prize!
A New York Times Notable Book & Best Book of the Year Selection by The Economist, Oprah Daily, BookPage, Book Riot, and more!

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Gene comes The Song of the Cell—a sweeping, beautifully written exploration of one of biology’s greatest discoveries: the cell.

Siddhartha Mukherjee traces this groundbreaking journey back to the late 1600s, when Robert Hooke and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek peered through early microscopes and discovered that all living organisms are built from tiny, self-contained units—what Hooke named cells. This revelation transformed medicine and biology, reshaping our understanding of the human body as a cellular ecosystem.

Today, this knowledge fuels revolutionary treatments, from cancer therapies to regenerative medicine. The Song of the Cell examines how scientists uncovered the secrets of cells, how they are being harnessed to heal disease, and what this means for the future of human life itself.

Blending cutting-edge research, meticulous scholarship, and breathtaking storytelling, Mukherjee crafts a compelling narrative that makes complex science thrilling and deeply personal. Told in six parts and interwoven with the author’s own experiences as a physician and researcher, this book is both panoramic and intimate—a profound meditation on what it means to be human.

“Lyrical and capacious... Mukherjee takes us from the 17th-century discovery of cells to today’s most advanced cellular therapies.” —The New Yorker