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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Debra Niehoff. 2005. The Language of Life: How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. doi: 10.17226/10742.
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THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Debra Niehoff. 2005. The Language of Life: How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. doi: 10.17226/10742.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Debra Niehoff. 2005. The Language of Life: How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. doi: 10.17226/10742.
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THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE

How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease

Debra Niehoff

Joseph Henry Press
Washington, D.C.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Debra Niehoff. 2005. The Language of Life: How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. doi: 10.17226/10742.
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Joseph Henry Press
500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

The Joseph Henry Press, an imprint of the National Academies Press, was created with the goal of making books on science, technology, and health more widely available to professionals and the public. Joseph Henry was one of the founders of the National Academy of Sciences and a leader in early American science.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this volume are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences or its affiliated institutions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Niehoff, Debra.

The language of life : how cells communicate in health and disease / Debra Niehoff.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-309-08989-1 (cloth)

1. Cell interaction—Popular works.

[DNLM: 1. Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins—physiology. 2. Paracrine Communication—physiology. QH 604.2

N666L 2005] I. Title.

QH604.2.N54 2005

611′.0181—dc22

2005002386

Cover design by Michele de la Menardiere; Nerve Cell Culture image © SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Text illustrations by Michael Linkinhoker, © Link Studio LLC.

Copyright 2005 by Debra Niehoff. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Debra Niehoff. 2005. The Language of Life: How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. doi: 10.17226/10742.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Debra Niehoff. 2005. The Language of Life: How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. doi: 10.17226/10742.
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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.

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