*twitch*

[asimplechord]

Started reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Four pages in, I'm already twitching about the way this author writes science. As someone who studies cancer cell biology in HeLa cells among others, I just have to say no. Just, NO.

All it takes is one mistake anywhere in the division process for cells to start growing out of control[...] and you could have cancer.

That is a GROSS oversimplification. There are multiple checkpoints that have to fail for the cell to continue to divide, and that in and of itself may lead to a tumor, but extravasation and metastasis are other matters entirely.

And then,

Their chromosomes and proteins have been studied with such detail and precision that scientists know their every quirk.

Not just no, but fuck no. If that were the case, no basic science research would still be done with them.

Comments

[why-me-why-not.livejournal.com]

Lol, quit applying logic to books, gosh! (I don't think you're gonna like that book very much)

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

I think I am going to spend a lot of this book going, "NO NO NO, YOU ARE DUMBING DOWN SCIENCE FOR YOUR READERS, THAT'S AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION."

[incapricious.livejournal.com]

Their chromosomes and proteins have been studied with such detail and precision that scientists know their every quirk.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH *takes a breath* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

RIGHT? I just looked at that sentence and thought, "Uh, who edited this? Was there ANY SCIENTIST INVOLVED? AT ALL?"