本期节目邀请了肿瘤学家、普利策奖得主Siddhartha Mukherjee，探讨了他的新书《细胞之歌》中的核心内容。节目深入剖析了细胞的惊人发现及其对医学的变革性影响，解释了从单细胞到多细胞生命进化的驱动力，并详细介绍了四种不同类型的细胞疗法及其解决的问题。此外，节目还探讨了基因疗法（如CRISPR）的最新进展，以及围绕人类基因编辑的伦理问题。Mukherjee还分享了他对医学科学的挑战、人脑、学习方式、写作过程、心理健康等多个引人入胜的话题的见解。

🧬 细胞的发现与医学的变革：节目深入探讨了细胞的发现如何深刻地改变了医学，以及细胞理论如何促进了对疾病的理解。Mukherjee强调了细胞在生命中的核心地位，以及它如何驱动着医学的进步。

🌱 多细胞生命的进化驱动力：节目探讨了从单细胞到多细胞生命进化的动力。Mukherjee解释了这种转变在生物学上的重要性，以及多细胞生物如何演化出复杂的生命形式。

🔬 四种细胞疗法与基因疗法的挑战：节目详细介绍了四种不同类型的细胞疗法，以及基因疗法面临的挑战。Mukherjee讨论了CAR T细胞疗法等有前景的治疗方法，并探讨了基因疗法在治疗疾病方面的潜力，特别是对于镰状细胞病等遗传疾病。

💡 CRISPR基因编辑的革命性进展：节目重点介绍了CRISPR基因编辑技术，以及它在基因治疗领域的革命性影响。Mukherjee讨论了CRISPR技术的原理及其在医学上的应用，例如治疗遗传疾病的可能性。

🤔 人类基因编辑的伦理问题：节目深入探讨了人类基因编辑所引发的伦理问题。Mukherjee讨论了基因编辑技术的潜在风险和伦理困境，以及社会应该如何应对这些挑战。

🧠 心理健康与遗传学的复杂关系：节目还探讨了遗传学在心理疾病中的复杂作用。Mukherjee分享了他对精神疾病的见解，以及如何改变对心理疾病的污名化。

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Siddhartha Mukherjee is an oncologist, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and previous guest on The Drive. In this episode, Sid discusses many of the subjects of his latest book, The Song of the Cell, including the incredible discovery of the cell and how it transformed medicine. He explains the evolutionary drive to go from single-cell to multicellular life and unpacks the four different types of cell-based therapies and the problems they are attempting to solve. He also provides the latest in gene therapy, such as CRISPR, and the ethical questions around human gene editing. Additionally, he touches on a number of fascinating topics, such as the challenges of medical science, the human brain, learning styles, his writing process, mental health, and more.

We discuss:

How the cell brings the genome to life, and how Sid’s recent book fits into his prior work to tell a story [2:30]; How the germ theory of disease and an understanding of the cell fueled a big leap in medicine [9:45]; What is the evolutionary drive for multicellular life? [17:15]; Four types of cell therapies and the challenges of gene therapy [26:00]; CAR T-cell therapy: promising gene therapy for cancer [36:30]; The possibility of using gene therapy to treat germline mutations like sickle cell disease [41:45]; The incredible revolution of gene editing with CRISPR [45:15]; Ethical questions around human gene editing [52:30]; The complex role of genetics in mental illness [1:01:30]; Two types of problems in science: the “eye in the sandstorm” problem and the “sand in the eye” problem [1:06:15]; Understanding neural networks: an example of the “sand in the eye” problem being solved [1:08:45]; Importance of learning by doing: comparing the learning styles of a doctoral student to a medical student [1:16:30]; Sid’s unique and brilliant style of writing [1:20:45]; Falling as the leading cause of accidental death: a liability of multicellular existence [1:25:00]; Sid’s struggle with depression and his desire to change the stigma around mental illness [1:29:15]; and More.

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