{"product_id":"crossing-the-boundaries-of-life-karl-s-matlin-9780226819341","title":"Crossing the Boundaries of Life: G?ter Blobel and the Origins of Molecular Cell Biology","description":"\u003cb\u003eA close look at G?ter Blobel's transformative contributions to molecular cell biology.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The difficulty of reconciling chemical mechanisms with the functions of whole living systems has plagued biologists since the development of cell theory in the nineteenth century. As Karl S. Matlin argues in \u003ci\u003eCrossing the Boundaries of Life\u003c\/i\u003e, it is no coincidence that this longstanding knot of scientific inquiry was loosened most meaningfully by the work of a cell biologist, the Nobel laureate G?ter Blobel. In 1975, using an experimental setup that did not contain any cells at all, Blobel was able to target newly made proteins to cell membrane vesicles, enabling him to theorize how proteins in the cell distribute spatially, an idea he called the signal hypothesis. Over the next twenty years, Blobel and other scientists were able to dissect this mechanism into its precise molecular details. For elaborating his signal concept into a process he termed \u003ci\u003emembrane topogenesis\u003c\/i\u003e--the idea that each protein in the cell is synthesized with an \"address\" that directs the protein to its correct destination within the cell--Blobel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1999. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Matlin argues that Blobel's investigative strategy and its subsequent application addressed a fundamental unresolved dilemma that had bedeviled biology from its very beginning--the relationship between structure and function--allowing biology to achieve mechanistic molecular explanations of biological phenomena. \u003ci\u003eCrossing the Boundaries of Life\u003c\/i\u003e thus uses Blobel's research and life story to shed light on the importance of cell biology for twentieth-century science, illustrating how it propelled the development of adjacent disciplines like biochemistry and molecular biology.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Karl S. Matlin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226819345\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226819341\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/10\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.19lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.82d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2022","brand":"Karl S. Matlin","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44056757731583,"sku":"9780226819341","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_344511d5-ba21-4131-a11b-fb5ad41d5a91.jpg?v=1685043105","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/crossing-the-boundaries-of-life-karl-s-matlin-9780226819341","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}