Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life

by Gerald H. Pollack

Publisher: Ebner & Sons Pub
ISBN: 0962689521

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Book Description

This book describes how cells work. It challenges the current wisdom of cell function, and presents a new, simpler approach to fundamental processes such as movement, transport, division, and communication, based on sound physical principles. The book is profusely illustrated with many color figures. It is written for the non-expert in an accessible, often humorous style.

Book Reviews

Peter Basser, Chief, Tissue Biophysics and Biomimetics, National Institutes of Health

"Full of deep physical insights into biological structure / function relationships. I found it refreshingly iconoclastic, sensible, and believable."

Erwin Vogler, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Penn State University

"I was completely sucked in upon reading the first page. This is such great stuff." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

H. Ishiwatari, Dean, Grad School Health Sciences, Suzuka University, Japan

"Cells and Gels reads like a detective story. I could not stop reading until the plot resolved."

Book Info

Univ. of Washington, Seattle. Challenges the current wisdom of how cells work. Emphasizes the gel-like nature of the cell, and builds on this feature to explore underlying mechanisms of communication, transport, contraction, division, and other essential cell functions. For those with little biology background. Softcover, hardcover also available.

About the Author

Dr. Gerald Pollack is a world leader in the area of muscle contraction and cell motility. He is currently Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. His previous book, "Muscles and Molecules: Uncovering the Principles of Biological Motion" was recipient of an "Excellence Award" from the Society for Technical Communiction.

Customer Reviews

Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life written by Gerald H Pollack is a well-written book the challenges the accepted dogma of cellular biology.

You have to read this book with an open mind as some of the information given the reader is contraversial, as the emphasis of the author's narrative is the gel-like nature of the cell. The author makes his point and builds upon this feature as we read and explore the underlying mechanisms within the cell itself. Contraction, division, transport are just a few of the mechanisms brought to light in this book... could these mechanisms be much simpler than envisioned.

I found the book to be very readable with illustrations to explain the text and complicated principles. The author makes an impressive and convincing argument with his gel theory mechanism... this book shakes the foundation from which cell biology has been built upon. This book has a detective flavor to it keeping the reader engaged as the story unfolds.

This book requires the reader to have some knowledge of chemistry and biology to understand the underlying principles, but it is not out of the realm of a layperson who has scientific knowledge. To some up this book in a single word... provocative.

This book is heretical and courageous, and - if it can escape burning - may become a seminal landmark in our understanding of living systems. Based to a large extent on the pioneering (and often unfairly derided) work of Gilbert Ling, the book focuses on the importance of the gel-like nature of living cytoplasm - the interior of living cells - at the expense of the vaunted cell membrane. It turns out that cells can do fairly well without intact cell membranes because many functions attributed to the membrane are actually accomplished by gel properties of sub-membrane cytoskeleton of actin, microtubules and other protein structures. Pollack provides evidence that patch clamp techniques, which claim to study isolated membranes (and have provided much of the "evidence" for membrane ion channel and ion pumping mechanisms) include sub-membrane actin cytoskeleton which, according to Pollack, is actually regulating ionic fluxes and concentrations.

The book describes how cytoplasmic gels manifest collective phase transitions such as polymerization of actin proteins with accompanying ordering of cell water and exclusion of large cations. According to Pollack, these collective phase transitions can explain not only ionic fluxes, but also voltage gradients, propagating action potentials, mitosis, muscle contraction and cell movement. Ion channels and pumps are not mythical, but overstated. Pollack traces the roots of (in his view) the "membrane-centric" misconceptions and his proposed revolution is believable. Our cells are not bags of liquid governed by membrane activities, but protein matrix-based gels covered by a thin semi-permeable membrane "skin". The cytoplasm is intrinsically reactive and able to maintain cell homeostasis and functions. The cytoplasmic gel best captures the essence of the living state.

Molecular biologists, biochemists, membrane physiologists and others will no doubt gnash their teeth over this book, and many will dismiss it out of hand, citing ever-expanding knowledge in their respective fields. However ultrareductionist "bind and grind" techniques quite often fail to see the forest for the trees. Pollack encourages readers to compare his ideas to conventional approaches as espoused in mainstream textbooks. Any objective biologist should do so.

The book is easy to read, clear and understandable, and well illustrated with simple diagrams. Those willing to curb their dogma will find it stimulating and delightful.

it is interesting to see how far off the deep end a book get can and still have people read it. this book rehashes some old ideas first put forth by gilbert ling in the 60's, in which he proposes that everything in biology results from the fact that protoplasm is a gel which can selectively bind different ions. and that idea is fine as far as it goes, however, this book obsesses about this idea to the exclusion of all else. it is as though molecular biology never happened. i think only the most ignorant of readers would ever be taken in by the nonsense written in this book, at least i hope that is the case. at least though it is good for a few laughs, which is why i give it three stars instead of zero. it certainly has little factual content, choosing instead to just attack the prevailing dogma with little nit-picking jabs. meanwhile, long-discredited artifacts like polywater and the microtrabecular lattice are resurrected in a desparate attempt to support the alternative gel-based theory. give me a break.