p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is as advertised, a book focused exclusively on one gene and how it relates to cancer. The author goes into great detail of how the gene was discovered and how it was originally misdiagnosed as a gene which causes cancer before its true nature was discovered. Of particular interests was the chapter, “The Smoking Gun” which discussed the discovery of how smoking caused a mutation at a specific location in this gene. It is this mutation which make people susceptible to cancer and this discovery which eventual led the cigarette companies to admit the truth. This was a particularly quick read. I would have preferred if the book strayed beyond the P53 gene and discuss more of the other genes related to cancer. Although well written, I am not sure there was enough information about just this one gene for an entire book. When reading the book and following through the scientific discoveries, the author would at times bring up a new scientist/researcher which she would then introduce in the book. She went into significant detail not only about the researcher’s life, but also about her interview with the researcher. She would discuss details about his house, expression property, etc. (almost like filler material). I found this to be more of a distraction and after reading this, I needed to go pack a few pages to remember what the topic of research was being discussed. Despite this one critique, I found this book to be very good and would recommend it to anyone interested in cancer research.

It might not deserve 1 star, but this clearly has too many knee-jerk jerk 5 stars it clearly doesn't deserve.Author 's writing would improve 1000% if she used the Hemingway app.I've never seen so many overlong, convoluted sentences (and I read a lot!). I realized why I was having trouble when 1 paragraph was 1 sentence, and not a short one.Nevertheless, I am grateful the author wrote the book, even if, as someone pounted, it would have made a great article. (But then how would she have deserved all those writing advances?P.S. I don't know how many times I had to learn how DNA 'works', fortunately, all of them contained handy pictures. This book would have been enhanced by having a few.

Fun and informative, this is worth a read. There is essentially no science here, and after a while the obligatory human interest nuggets which are the prelude to each new topic become a little irritating. P53 is an incredibly relevant protein in cancer and aging, but too little of its scientific contradictions and complexities come across. If the outcome of this read is to provoke curiosity but not satisfy it, it succeeds. This is in itself is a worthwhile objective, but fundamentally disappointing.

“… a gene that goes by the prosaic name of p53 - bestowed on it simply because it makes a protein with a molecular weight of 53 kilodaltons.” – from p53: THE GENE THAT CRACKED THE CANCER CODEp53: THE GENE THAT CRACKED THE CANCER CODE by Sue Armstrong seems to be a reasonably comprehensive overview of the topic that even those with but a modicum knowledge level of genetics and biochemistry should find readable and comprehensible.The author jumps back and forth in time to show how the aggregate work of a multitude of researchers accumulated and built on itself to arrive at the understanding we have today about p53. This lends the narrative a choppiness which might have been ameliorated at the conclusion if Armstrong had provided a concise summary of the scientific findings to date. This she failed to do and the book suffers somewhat for its absence.p53: THE GENE THAT CRACKED THE CANCER CODE is, however, a commendable contribution to the popular science genre.

Some nice but extraneous minutia of the people involved in p53's discovery, but their achievements and the science of p53 itself are pretty clearly explained. After reading it, you get a good sense of how important p53 is as a target for future cancer therapies. The book makes you realize the complexity of the p53 (and presumably other tumor suppressor gene) pathways. Kevetrin is one compound with promise to target p53. There is already hope.

Although I have been somewhat familiar with the p53 literature for a number of years, I was greatly informed and entertained by this narrative; the author does a fine job of weaving the science with the mystery of this extremely important transcription factor. The book hits on so many areas of cell and molecular biology in a very understandable and human way that I am even considering adopting it as supplemental reading for my college-level intro to cell biology and genetics course.

This is tedious reading, but well worth it when you get all the way through it.

Interesting story. I am an oncologist (cancer specialist), and so I would have appreciated MORE esoteric detail. I think most careful lay readers would be satisfied with the detail provided, and will understand what was being described in the book. The degree of technical detail remind me of a Stephen Hawkins book on the cosmos.Armstrong does a nice job of describing the history of p53, from its discovery to the present time. It helped me with perspective, and was a very interesting, if not comprehensive review.It is absolutely true that p53 is one of the most important cancer related abnormalities in humans. Unfortunately, it is a tough nut to crack, from a therapeautic standpoint. I think people interested in one of the most important causes of cancer will enjoy this book.

This is a brilliant piece of research, a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the causes of cancer and in possible ways some of its many manifestations can be defeated. p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code combines access to complex science for non-experts with remarkable human stories ....

Interesting read

I loved this book, except that, as a layperson​ who is just entering into the field of medical, some things were still confusing, specially the initial chapters on the discovery of the role of p53.As a non fiction in science category, it is not as impactful as "the gene- an intimate history" by Siddharth Mukherjee was, but nowhere any less in content.

I have read 5 books on cancer this year. Among them, this is truly a stand-out. The subject matter is explained in a way that I expect someone with basic high school biology will grasp. The writing is clear, and the structure works really well.

Vwry informative and gripping