What does it mean to be an oncologist? It means that you get to sit in at a moment of another person's life that is so hyper-acute, and not just because they're medically ill. It's also a moment of hope and expectation and concern. Siddhartha Mukherjee More Quotes by Siddhartha Mukherjee More Quotes From Siddhartha Mukherjee There's a phrase in Shakespeare: he refers to it as the 'hidden imposthume', and this idea of a hidden swelling is seminal to cancer. But even in more contemporary writing it's called 'the big C'. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer writing ideas Could your medicine be a cell, not a pill? Could your medicine be an organ that's created outside the body? Could your medicine be an environment? Siddhartha Mukherjee pills medicine cells Most days, I go home and I feel rejuvenated. I feel ebullient. Siddhartha Mukherjee home feels There is a duality in recognising what an incredible disease it is - in terms of its origin, that it emerges out of a normal cell. It's a reminder of what a wonderful thing a normal cell is. In a very cold, scientific sense, I think a cancer cell is a kind of biological marvel. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer cells thinking I believe the biggest breakthroughs on cancer could come from brilliant researchers based in India. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer india believe I am a scientist and I am a physician. So I write papers. Siddhartha Mukherjee physicians paper writing It was Disney World fused with Cancerland. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer world Down to their innate molecular core, cancer cells are hyperactive, survival-endowed, scrappy, fecund, inventive copies of ourselves. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer survival cells This was yet another colonial fascination: to create the conditions of misery in a population, then subject it to social or medical experimentation. Siddhartha Mukherjee medical population fascination It is hard to look at the tumor and not come away with the feeling that one has encountered a powerful monster in its infancy Siddhartha Mukherjee powerful monsters feelings I left Delhi in 1989 and remember very little of how life used to be then. Increasingly, in my recent visits to Delhi, I've started to realize that the city has become intellectually very lively. It makes me want to discover the city over and over again. Siddhartha Mukherjee cities want littles Most discoveries even today are a combination of serendipity and of searching. Siddhartha Mukherjee serendipity discovery today Cell culture is a little like gardening. You sit and you look at cells, and then you see something and say, 'You know, that doesn't look right'. Siddhartha Mukherjee gardening cells culture In the laboratory, we call this the six-degrees-of-separation-from-cancer rule: you can ask any biological question, no matter how seemingly distant-what makes the heart fail, or why worms age, or even how birds learn songs-and you will end up, in fewer than six genetic steps, connecting with a proto-oncogene or tumor suppressor. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer heart song I wanted to explore cancer not just biologically, but metaphorically. The idea that tuberculosis in the 19th century possessed the same kind of frightening and decaying quality was very interesting to me, and it seemed that one could explore the idea that every age defined its own illness. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer ideas interesting A breast cancer might turn out to have a close resemblance to a gastric cancer. And this kind of reorganization of cancer in terms of its internal genetic anatomy has really changed the way we treat and approach cancer in general. Siddhartha Mukherjee reorganization cancer might Sandeep Jauhar’s Doctored is a passionate and necessary book that asks difficult questions about the future of medicine. The narrative is gripping, and the writing is marvelous. But it was the gravity of the problem—so movingly told—that grabbed and kept my attention throughout this remarkable work. Siddhartha Mukherjee difficult-questions writing book Postwar U.S. was the world's leader in science and technology. The investment in science research was staggering. Siddhartha Mukherjee technology leader research Probably the most important reason we are seeing more cancers than before is because the population is ageing overall. And cancer is an age-related disease. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer important age I had seen cancer at a more cellular level as a researcher. The first time I entered the cancer ward, my first instinct was to withdraw from what was going on - the complexity, the death. It was a very bleak time. Siddhartha Mukherjee cancer levels firsts
