[The book cover]
"The Other Brain" (2011) by Douglas Fields
People may think brain is a chunk of neurons, all electrically wired up, which is an equivalent of circuit board in computer.
It is not.
Brain is made of living cells including neurons. But about half of brain is made of non-neuron cells called glial cells. Historically, the glial cells have been ignored or neglected for a long time, and neuroscientists began to identify their roles in 2000's and 2010's.
This book is about the glial cells and highlights newfound important roles glial cells play in the brain. The author introduces the non-neuron part of brain. Hence, the title "The Other Brain".
There have been a few newer development in the field since 2011 (like, updated glia/neuron ratio estimate in 2016), but the book is quite decent read. If you are interested in viewpoint of neuroscientist, or in brain (which still is quite mysterious organ), go ahead and read it.
"The Emperor of All Maladies; a biography of cancer" (2011) by Siddhartha Mukherjee
I do cancer research, and studied molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, and cancer biology for my profession. But I learned a lot from this "biography of cancer".
The book covers historical aspects of human-cancer interactions. There are many gruesome, medical horror stories, as well as stories on cancer politics that tell how contemporary cancer research and medical practices came into being.
Yet, we know that the horror still continues.
In truth, many people get involved in cancer by knowing a patient or being a patient. That is a terrible part of the truth.
A little better aspect is that, unlike old days, atmospheres have shifted to more "open" side in dealing with cancer. Cancer is no longer a stigmatizing disease that should stay in closet or anything (I hope).
Personally, this book gave me an updated perspective on what I am doing. The subject cancer is close, professionally. We do have many of these drugs appear in this book (cisplatin, bleomycin, etoposide, taxol, etc) in our freezer for lab experiments.
To general readers, this book should be a great educational read. Entertaining, even. The book received 2011 Pulitzer Prize. No wonder.
PBS made a documentary series on this (2015) (which I have not watched). They say that cancer immunotherapy, which was not included in the 2011 book, was in the newer documentaries. Maybe I should watch it, too.
