Siddhartha Mukherjee

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Siddhartha Mukherjee

| native_name_lang = bn

| image = Siddhartha Mukherjee.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Mukherjee in 2017

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|07|21|df=y}}

| birth_place = New Delhi, India

| nationality = American

| workplaces = Columbia University

| spouse = Sarah Sze

| children = 2

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

| fields = Immunology
Cancer epidemiology
Genetic epidemiology

| thesis_title = The processing and presentation of viral antigens

| thesis_url = http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph013369598

| thesis_year = 1997

| known_for = {{Plainlist|

| influences =

| influenced =

| awards = Rhodes Scholarship
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (2011)
Guardian First Book Award (2011)
Padma Shri (2014)

| website = {{URL|siddharthamukherjee.com}}

| employer =

| organization =

}}

Siddhartha Mukherjee (Bengali: সিদ্ধার্থ মুখার্জী; born 21 July 1970){{cite web|last1=Rogers|first1=Kara|title=Siddhartha Mukherjee: Indian-born American physician, scientist, and writer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Siddhartha-Mukherjee|website=www.britannica.com|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=8 May 2017}} is an Indian-American physician, biologist, and author. He is best known for his 2010 book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, that won notable literary prizes including the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction,{{cite news |title=Pulitzer for US-Indian Siddhartha Mukherjee's book |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-13125576 |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=BBC |date=19 April 2011}} and Guardian First Book Award,{{cite news |last1=Flood |first1=A. |title=Biography of cancer wins Guardian First Book award |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/dec/01/biography-cancer-guardian-first-book-award |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=1 December 2011}} among others. The book was listed in the "All-Time 100 Nonfiction Books" (the 100 most influential books of the last century) by Time magazine in 2011.{{cite magazine |first=Gilbert |last= Cruz |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2011/08/30/all-time-100-best-nonfiction-books/slide/the-emperor-of-all-maladies-by-siddhartha-mukherjee/ |magazine=Time|title=All-TIME 100 Nonfiction Books|date=17 August 2011|access-date=28 September 2014}} His 2016 book The Gene: An Intimate History made it to #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list,{{cite news |title=The New York Times Best Sellers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2016/06/12/ |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=12 June 2016}} and was among The New York Times 100 best books of 2016,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/books/review/100-notable-books-2010.html?pagewanted=all|title=100 Notable Books of 2010|date=24 November 2010|author=New York Times Sunday Book Review Editorial Staff|work=New York Times Magazine|access-date=28 September 2014}} and a finalist for the Wellcome Trust Prize and the Royal Society Prize for Science Books.

After completing secondary school education in India, Mukherjee studied biology at Stanford University, obtained a D.Phil. from University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and an M.D. from Harvard University. He joined New York–Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center in New York City in 2009. As of 2018, he is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology.{{cite news |title=Siddhartha Mukherjee, author-doctor, is guest at Express Adda today |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/siddhartha-mukherjee-author-doctor-is-guest-at-express-adda-today-5112499/ |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=The Indian Express |date=27 March 2018}}

Featured in the Time 100 list of most influential people, Mukherjee writes for The New Yorker and is a columnist in The New York Times. He is described as part of a select group of doctor-writers (such as Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande) who have "transformed the public discourse on human health",{{cite news |last1=Mackovich |first1=Ron |title=Renowned oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee named USC's 2018 commencement speaker |url=https://news.usc.edu/138101/renowned-oncologist-siddhartha-mukherjee-announced-as-uscs-2018-commencement-speaker/ |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=USC News |date=8 March 2018}} and allowed a generation of readers a rare and intimate glimpse into the life of science and medicine.{{cite news |last1=Solomon |first1=Andrew |title=Literature about medicine may be all that can save us |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/22/literature-about-medicine-may-be-all-that-can-save-us |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=22 February 2018}} His research concerns the physiology of cancer cells, immunological therapy for blood cancers, and the discovery of bone- and cartilage-forming stem cells in the vertebrate skeleton.{{cite web |title=Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil |url=https://www.stemcell.columbia.edu/profile/siddhartha-mukherjee-md |publisher=Columbia Stem Cell Initiative (CSCI) |access-date=25 June 2018}}

The Government of India conferred on him its fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 2014.{{cite web|title=Indo-American Siddhartha Mukherjee calls Padma Shri a great Honor|url=http://news.biharprabha.com/2014/01/indo-american-siddhartha-mukherjee-calls-padma-shri-a-great-honor/|work=IANS|publisher=Biharprabha News|access-date=27 January 2014}}

Early life and education

Siddhartha Mukherjee was born to a Bengali Brahmin family in New Delhi, India. His father, Sibeswar Mukherjee, was an executive with Mitsubishi, and his mother Chandana Mukherjee, was a former school teacher from Calcutta (now Kolkata). He attended St. Columba's School in Delhi, where he won the school's highest award, the 'Sword of Honour', in 1989. As a biology major at Stanford University, he worked in Nobel Laureate Paul Berg's laboratory, defining cellular genes that change the behaviours of cancer cells. He earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa{{Cite web|url=http://phibetakappa.tumblr.com/post/163177576378/the-gene-by-siddhartha-mukherjee|title='The Gene,' by Siddhartha Mukherjee}} in 1992, and completed his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in 1993.

Mukherjee won a Rhodes Scholarship for doctoral research at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. He worked on the mechanism of activation of the immune system by viral antigens. He was awarded a D.Phil. in 1997 for his thesis titled The processing and presentation of viral antigens.{{cite thesis|degree=DPhil|publisher=University of Oxford|title=The processing and presentation of viral antigens|first= Siddhartha|last=Mukherjee|date=1997|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.390538|oclc=43182774}} After graduation, he attended Harvard Medical School, where he earned his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 2000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2011/04/hms-alumnus-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-nonfiction|title=Medical Alumnus Wins Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction|date=2011-04-18|newspaper=Harvard Magazine|access-date=2017-01-07}} Between 2000 and 2003 he worked as a resident in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. From 2003 to 2006 he trained in hematology-oncology as a Fellow at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (under Harvard Medical School) in Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite web | title = Cancer's Biographer | url = http://news.columbia.edu/record/2238 | last = Levin | first = Ann | publisher = The Record (Columbia University) | access-date = 6 September 2011}}{{cite web|title=Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil|url=https://www.columbiadoctors.org/siddhartha-mukherjee-md|website=www.columbiadoctors.org|publisher=Columbia University|access-date=8 May 2017}}

Career

In 2009, Mukherjee joined the faculty of the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Columbia University Medical Center as an assistant professor.{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/books/09mukherjee.html | title = How Cancer Acquired Its Own Biographer | last = McGrath | first = Charles | date = 8 November 2010 | work = The New York Times | access-date = 6 September 2011}} The medical center is attached to the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.{{cite web|title=Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil|url=http://www.nyp.org/physician/smukherjee|publisher=NewYork-Presbyterian|access-date=10 May 2017}}

He was previously affiliated with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He has worked as the Plummer Visiting professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the Joseph Garland lecturer at the Massachusetts Medical Society, and an honorary visiting professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.{{cite web |title=Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., Ph.D. |url=http://actfornih.org/bios/siddhartha-mukherjee-m.d.-ph.d |publisher=ACT for NIH |access-date=25 June 2018}} His laboratory is based at Columbia University's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.{{cite web |title=Physician's Profile: Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil |url=http://cancer.columbia.edu/siddhartha-mukherjee-md-dphil |publisher=Columbia University Medical Center, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center |access-date=27 June 2018}}

In January 2025, Mukherjee launched Manas AI, an AI-enabled drug discovery startup, together with Reid Hoffman, with about $25 million in venture capital funding.{{Cite news |last=Jin |first=Berber |date=January 27, 2025 |title=Reid Hoffman Raises $24.6 Million for AI Cancer Research Startup |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/manas-ai-drug-discovery-reid-hoffman-93a6c023 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}

Contributions

=Cancer research=

Mukherjee is a trained haematologist and oncologist whose research focuses on the links between normal stem cells and cancer cells. Through his findings, he had shown the roles of cells in cancer therapy.{{cite web |last1=Mukherjee |first1=Siddhartha |title=Soon we'll cure diseases with a cell, not a pill |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/siddhartha_mukherjee_soon_we_ll_cure_diseases_with_a_cell_not_a_pill |date=2015 |website=Ted Talks |access-date=26 June 2018}} He has been investigating the microenvironment ("niche") of stem cells, particularly on blood-forming (haematopoietic) stem cells. Blood-forming stem cells are present in the bone marrow in very specific microenvironments. Osteoblasts, cells that form bone, are one of the principal components in this environment. These cells regulate the process of blood cell formation and development by providing them with signals to divide, remain quiescent, or maintain their stem cell properties.{{cite journal |last1=Morrison |first1=Sean J. |last2=Scadden |first2=David T. |title=The bone marrow niche for haematopoietic stem cells |journal=Nature |date=2014 |volume=505 |issue=7483 |pages=327–334 |doi=10.1038/nature12984 |pmid=24429631|pmc=4514480 |bibcode=2014Natur.505..327M }} Distortion in the development of these cells results in severe blood cancers, such as myelodysplastic syndrome and leukemia.{{cite journal |last1=Raaijmakers |first1=Marc H. G. P. |last2=Mukherjee |first2=Siddhartha |last3=Guo |first3=Shangqin |last4=Zhang |first4=Siyi |last5=Kobayashi |first5=Tatsuya |last6=Schoonmaker |first6=Jesse A. |last7=Ebert |first7=Benjamin L. |last8=Al-Shahrour |first8=Fatima |last9=Hasserjian |first9=Robert P. |last10=Scadden |first10=Edward O. |last11=Aung |first11=Zinmar |last12=Matza |first12=Marc |last13=Merkenschlager |first13=Matthias |last14=Lin |first14=Charles |last15=Rommens |first15=Johanna M. |last16=Scadden |first16=David. T. |title=Bone progenitor dysfunction induces myelodysplasia and secondary leukaemia |journal=Nature |date=2010 |volume=464 |issue=7290 |pages=852–857 |doi=10.1038/nature08851 |pmid=20305640 |pmc=3422863 |bibcode=2010Natur.464..852R |display-authors=8}} Mukherjee's research has been recognised through many grants from the National Institutes of Health and from private foundations.{{cite web|title=Insight|url=http://lectures-events.rockefeller.edu/show_media.php?id=371|publisher=The Rockefeller University|access-date=8 May 2017}}{{cite web |title=Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil |url=https://www.columbiadoctors.org/siddhartha-mukherjee-md |website=ColumbiaDoctors |publisher=Columbia University Medical Center |access-date=27 June 2018}}

Mukherjee and his co-workers have identified several genes and chemicals that can alter the microenvironment, or niche, and thereby alter the behavior of normal stem cells, as well as cancer cells.{{cite journal |last1=Mukherjee |first1=Siddhartha |last2=Raje |first2=Noopur |last3=Schoonmaker |first3=Jesse A. |last4=Liu |first4=Julie C. |last5=Hideshima |first5=Teru |last6=Wein |first6=Marc N. |last7=Jones |first7=Dallas C. |last8=Vallet |first8=Sonia |last9=Bouxsein |first9=Mary L. |last10=Pozzi |first10=Samantha |last11=Chhetri |first11=Shweta |last12=Seo |first12=Y. David |last13=Aronson |first13=Joshua P. |last14=Patel |first14=Chirayu |last15=Fulciniti |first15=Mariateresa |last16=Purton |first16=Louise E. |last17=Glimcher |first17=Laurie H. |last18=Lian |first18=Jane B. |last19=Stein |first19=Gary |last20=Anderson |first20=Kenneth C. |last21=Scadden |first21=David T. |title=Pharmacologic targeting of a stem/progenitor population in vivo is associated with enhanced bone regeneration in mice |journal=Journal of Clinical Investigation |date=2008 |volume=118 |issue=2 |pages=491–504 |doi=10.1172/JCI33102 |pmid=18219387 |display-authors=8 |pmc=2213372}}{{cite journal |last1=Raje |first1=N |last2=Hideshima |first2=T |last3=Mukherjee |first3=S |last4=Raab |first4=M |last5=Vallet |first5=S |last6=Chhetri |first6=S |last7=Cirstea |first7=D |last8=Pozzi |first8=S |last9=Mitsiades |first9=C |last10=Rooney |first10=M |last11=Kiziltepe |first11=T |last12=Podar |first12=K |last13=Okawa |first13=Y |last14=Ikeda |first14=H |last15=Carrasco |first15=R |last16=Richardson |first16=P G |last17=Chauhan |first17=D |last18=Munshi |first18=N C |last19=Sharma |first19=S |last20=Parikh |first20=H |last21=Chabner |first21=B |last22=Scadden |first22=D |last23=Anderson |first23=K C |title=Preclinical activity of P276-00, a novel small-molecule cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor in the therapy of multiple myeloma |journal=Leukemia |date=2009 |volume=23 |issue=5 |pages=961–970 |doi=10.1038/leu.2008.378 |pmid=19151776 |s2cid=26436611 |display-authors=8|doi-access= }}{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=M. D. |last2=Liu |first2=J. C. |last3=Barthel |first3=T. K. |last4=Hussain |first4=S. |last5=Lovria |first5=E. |last6=Cheng |first6=D. |last7=Schoonmaker |first7=J. A. |last8=Mulay |first8=S. |last9=Ayers |first9=D. C. |last10=Bouxsein |first10=M. L. |last11=Stein |first11=G. S. |last12=Mukherjee |first12=S. |last13=Lian |first13=J. B. |title=A Proteasome Inhibitor, Bortezomib, Inhibits Breast Cancer Growth and Reduces Osteolysis by Downregulating Metastatic Genes |journal=Clinical Cancer Research |date=2010 |volume=16 |issue=20 |pages=4978–4989 |doi=10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-09-3293 |pmid=20843837 |display-authors=8 |pmc=2955762}}{{cite journal |last1=Sykes |first1=David B. |last2=Kfoury |first2=Youmna S. |last3=Mercier |first3=François E. |last4=Wawer |first4=Mathias J. |last5=Law |first5=Jason M. |last6=Haynes |first6=Mark K. |last7=Lewis |first7=Timothy A. |last8=Schajnovitz |first8=Amir |last9=Jain |first9=Esha |last10=Lee |first10=Dongjun |last11=Meyer |first11=Hanna |last12=Pierce |first12=Kerry A. |last13=Tolliday |first13=Nicola J. |last14=Waller |first14=Anna |last15=Ferrara |first15=Steven J. |last16=Eheim |first16=Ashley L. |last17=Stoeckigt |first17=Detlef |last18=Maxcy |first18=Katrina L. |last19=Cobert |first19=Julien M. |last20=Bachand |first20=Jacqueline |last21=Szekely |first21=Brian A. |last22=Mukherjee |first22=Siddhartha |last23=Sklar |first23=Larry A. |last24=Kotz |first24=Joanne D. |last25=Clish |first25=Clary B. |last26=Sadreyev |first26=Ruslan I. |last27=Clemons |first27=Paul A. |last28=Janzer |first28=Andreas |last29=Schreiber |first29=Stuart L. |last30=Scadden |first30=David T. |title=Inhibition of Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase Overcomes Differentiation Blockade in Acute Myeloid Leukemia |journal=Cell |date=2016 |volume=167 |issue=1 |pages=171–186.e15 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2016.08.057 |pmid=27641501 |pmc=7360335 |display-authors=8|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Bhagat |first1=Tushar D. |last2=Chen |first2=Si |last3=Bartenstein |first3=Matthias |last4=Barlowe |first4=A. Trevor |last5=Von Ahrens |first5=Dagny |last6=Choudhary |first6=Gaurav S. |last7=Tivnan |first7=Patrick |last8=Amin |first8=Elianna |last9=Marcondes |first9=A. Mario |last10=Sanders |first10=Mathijs A. |last11=Hoogenboezem |first11=Remco M. |last12=Kambhampati |first12=Suman |last13=Ramachandra |first13=Nandini |last14=Mantzaris |first14=Iaonnis |last15=Sukrithan |first15=Vineeth |last16=Laurence |first16=Remi |last17=Lopez |first17=Robert |last18=Bhagat |first18=Prafullla |last19=Giricz |first19=Orsi |last20=Sohal |first20=Davendra |last21=Wickrema |first21=Amittha |last22=Yeung |first22=Cecilia |last23=Gritsman |first23=Kira |last24=Aplan |first24=Peter |last25=Hochedlinger |first25=Konrad |last26=Yu |first26=Yiting |last27=Pradhan |first27=Kith |last28=Zhang |first28=Jinghang |last29=Greally |first29=John M. |last30=Mukherjee |first30=Siddhartha |last31=Pellagatti |first31=Andrea |last32=Boultwood |first32=Jacqueline |last33=Will |first33=Britta |last34=Steidl |first34=Ulrich |last35=Raaijmakers |first35=Marc H.G.P. |last36=Deeg |first36=H. Joachim |last37=Kharas |first37=Michael G. |last38=Verma |first38=Amit |title=Epigenetically Aberrant Stroma in MDS Propagates Disease via Wnt/β-Catenin Activation |journal=Cancer Research |date=2017 |volume=77 |issue=18 |pages=4846–4857 |doi=10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-0282 |pmid=28684528 |display-authors=8 |pmc=5600853}}{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=X. |last2=Takemoto |first2=Y. |last3=Deng |first3=H. |last4=Middelhoff |first4=M. |last5=Friedman |first5=R. A. |last6=Chu |first6=T. H. |last7=Churchill |first7=M. J. |last8=Ma |first8=Y. |last9=Nagar |first9=K. K. |last10=Tailor |first10=Y. H. |last11=Mukherjee |first11=S. |last12=Wang |first12=T. C. |title=Histidine decarboxylase (HDC)-expressing granulocytic myeloid cells induce and recruit Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in murine colon cancer |journal=OncoImmunology |date=2017 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=e1290034 |doi=10.1080/2162402X.2017.1290034 |pmid=28405523 |pmc=5384347 |display-authors=8}} Two such chemicals – proteasome inhibitors and activin inhibitors{{cite journal |last1=Vallet |first1=S. |last2=Mukherjee |first2=S. |last3=Vaghela |first3=N. |last4=Hideshima |first4=T. |last5=Fulciniti |first5=M. |last6=Pozzi |first6=S. |last7=Santo |first7=L. |last8=Cirstea |first8=D. |last9=Patel |first9=K. |last10=Sohani |first10=A. R. |last11=Guimaraes |first11=A. |last12=Xie |first12=W. |last13=Chauhan |first13=D. |last14=Schoonmaker |first14=J. A. |last15=Attar |first15=E. |last16=Churchill |first16=M. |last17=Weller |first17=E. |last18=Munshi |first18=N. |last19=Seehra |first19=J. S. |last20=Weissleder |first20=R. |last21=Anderson |first21=K. C. |last22=Scadden |first22=D. T. |last23=Raje |first23=N. |title=Activin A promotes multiple myeloma-induced osteolysis and is a promising target for myeloma bone disease |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=2010 |volume=107 |issue=11 |pages=5124–5129 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0911929107 |pmid=20194748 |display-authors=8 |pmc=2841922|bibcode=2010PNAS..107.5124V |doi-access=free }} – are under clinical trials.{{cite journal |last1=Dimopoulos |first1=Meletios A |last2=Goldschmidt |first2=Hartmut |last3=Niesvizky |first3=Ruben |last4=Joshua |first4=Douglas |last5=Chng |first5=Wee-Joo |last6=Oriol |first6=Albert |last7=Orlowski |first7=Robert Z |last8=Ludwig |first8=Heinz |last9=Facon |first9=Thierry |last10=Hajek |first10=Roman |last11=Weisel |first11=Katja |last12=Hungria |first12=Vania |last13=Minuk |first13=Leonard |last14=Feng |first14=Shibao |last15=Zahlten-Kumeli |first15=Anita |last16=Kimball |first16=Amy S |last17=Moreau |first17=Philippe |title=Carfilzomib or bortezomib in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (ENDEAVOR): an interim overall survival analysis of an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial |journal=The Lancet Oncology |date=2017 |volume=18 |issue=10 |pages=1327–1337 |doi=10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30578-8 |pmid=28843768 |display-authors=8}}{{cite journal |last1=Komrokji |first1=Rami |last2=Garcia-Manero |first2=Guillermo |last3=Ades |first3=Lionel |last4=Prebet |first4=Thomas |last5=Steensma |first5=David P |last6=Jurcic |first6=Joseph G |last7=Sekeres |first7=Mikkael A |last8=Berdeja |first8=Jesus |last9=Savona |first9=Michael R |last10=Beyne-Rauzy |first10=Odile |last11=Stamatoullas |first11=Aspasia |last12=DeZern |first12=Amy E |last13=Delaunay |first13=Jacques |last14=Borthakur |first14=Gautam |last15=Rifkin |first15=Robert |last16=Boyd |first16=Thomas E |last17=Laadem |first17=Abderrhamane |last18=Vo |first18=Bond |last19=Zhang |first19=Jennie |last20=Puccio-Pick |first20=Marie |last21=Attie |first21=Kenneth M |last22=Fenaux |first22=Pierre |last23=List |first23=Alan F |title=Sotatercept with long-term extension for the treatment of anaemia in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes: a phase 2, dose-ranging trial |journal=The Lancet Haematology |date=2018 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=e63–e72 |doi=10.1016/S2352-3026(18)30002-4 |pmid=29331635 |display-authors=8}} Mukherjee's lab has also identified novel genetic mutations in myelodysplasia and acute myelogenous leukaemia and has played a leading role in finding therapies for these diseases.{{cite journal|last1=Raaijmakers|first1=Marc H. G. P.|last2=Mukherjee|first2=Siddhartha|last3=Guo|first3=Shangqin|last4=Zhang|first4=Siyi|last5=Kobayashi|first5=Tatsuya|last6=Schoonmaker|first6=Jesse A.|last7=Ebert|first7=Benjamin L.|last8=Al-Shahrour|first8=Fatima|last9=Hasserjian|first9=Robert P.|last10=Scadden|first10=Edward O.|last11=Aung|first11=Zinmar|last12=Matza|first12=Marc|last13=Merkenschlager|first13=Matthias|last14=Lin|first14=Charles|last15=Rommens|first15=Johanna M.|last16=Scadden|first16=David. T.|title=Bone progenitor dysfunction induces myelodysplasia and secondary leukaemia|journal=Nature|date=2010|volume=464|issue=7290|pages=852–857|doi=10.1038/nature08851|pmid=20305640|display-authors=8|pmc=3422863|bibcode=2010Natur.464..852R}}{{cite journal|last1=Guryanova|first1=O A|last2=Lieu|first2=Y K|last3=Garrett-Bakelman|first3=F E|last4=Spitzer|first4=B|last5=Glass|first5=J L|last6=Shank|first6=K|last7=Martinez|first7=A B V|last8=Rivera|first8=S A|last9=Durham|first9=B H|last10=Rapaport|first10=F|last11=Keller|first11=M D|last12=Pandey|first12=S|last13=Bastian|first13=L|last14=Tovbin|first14=D|last15=Weinstein|first15=A R|last16=Teruya-Feldstein|first16=J|last17=Abdel-Wahab|first17=O|last18=Santini|first18=V|last19=Mason|first19=C E|last20=Melnick|first20=A M|last21=Mukherjee|first21=S|last22=Levine|first22=R L|title=Dnmt3a regulates myeloproliferation and liver-specific expansion of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells|journal=Leukemia|date=29 December 2015|volume=30|issue=5|pages=1133–1142|doi=10.1038/leu.2015.358|pmid=26710888|display-authors=8|pmc=4856586}}

=Bone formation=

Mukherjee's team is also known for defining and characterizing skeletal stem/progenitor cells (also called osteochondroreticular or OCR cells). In 2015, they prospectively identified these progenitor cells from bone, and showed, using lineage tracing, that these cells can give rise to bone, cartilage, and reticular cells (hence the term "OCR" cells). They established that these cells form a part of the adult skeleton in vertebrates, and that they maintain and repair the skeleton.{{cite journal |last1=Worthley |first1=Daniel L. |last2=Churchill |first2=Michael |last3=Compton |first3=Jocelyn T. |last4=Tailor |first4=Yagnesh |last5=Rao |first5=Meenakshi |last6=Si |first6=Yiling |last7=Levin |first7=Daniel |last8=Schwartz |first8=Matthew G. |last9=Uygur |first9=Aysu |last10=Hayakawa |first10=Yoku |last11=Gross |first11=Stefanie |last12=Renz |first12=Bernhard W. |last13=Setlik |first13=Wanda |last14=Martinez |first14=Ashley N. |last15=Chen |first15=Xiaowei |last16=Nizami |first16=Saqib |last17=Lee |first17=Heon Goo |last18=Kang |first18=H. Paco |last19=Caldwell |first19=Jon-Michael |last20=Asfaha |first20=Samuel |last21=Westphalen |first21=C. Benedikt |last22=Graham |first22=Trevor |last23=Jin |first23=Guangchun |last24=Nagar |first24=Karan |last25=Wang |first25=Hongshan |last26=Kheirbek |first26=Mazen A. |last27=Kolhe |first27=Alka |last28=Carpenter |first28=Jared |last29=Glaire |first29=Mark |last30=Nair |first30=Abhinav |last31=Renders |first31=Simon |last32=Manieri |first32=Nicholas |last33=Muthupalani |first33=Sureshkumar |last34=Fox |first34=James G. |last35=Reichert |first35=Maximilian |last36=Giraud |first36=Andrew S. |last37=Schwabe |first37=Robert F. |last38=Pradere |first38=Jean-Phillipe |last39=Walton |first39=Katherine |last40=Prakash |first40=Ajay |last41=Gumucio |first41=Deborah |last42=Rustgi |first42=Anil K. |last43=Stappenbeck |first43=Thaddeus S. |last44=Friedman |first44=Richard A. |last45=Gershon |first45=Michael D. |last46=Sims |first46=Peter |last47=Grikscheit |first47=Tracy |last48=Lee |first48=Francis Y. |last49=Karsenty |first49=Gerard |last50=Mukherjee |first50=Siddhartha |last51=Wang |first51=Timothy C. |title=Gremlin 1 Identifies a Skeletal Stem Cell with Bone, Cartilage, and Reticular Stromal Potential |journal=Cell |date=2015 |volume=160 |issue=1–2 |pages=269–284 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2014.11.042 |pmid=25594183 |display-authors=9 |pmc=4436082}}

OCR cells are among the newest progenitor cells to be defined in vertebrates.{{cite journal |last1=McGonagle |first1=Dennis |last2=Jones |first2=Elena A. |title=A new in vivo stem cell model for regenerative rheumatology |journal=Nature Reviews Rheumatology |date=2015 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=200–201 |doi=10.1038/nrrheum.2015.21 |pmid=25734973|s2cid=29933567 }} The work generated wide interest and was described in journals as a major breakthrough for understanding biology and for understanding diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.{{cite journal |last1=Kassem |first1=Moustapha |last2=Bianco |first2=Paolo |title=Skeletal Stem Cells in Space and Time |journal=Cell |date=2015 |volume=160 |issue=1–2 |pages=17–19 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2014.12.034 |pmid=25594172|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Osório |first1=Joana |title=Back to the origins—identifying the skeletal stem cell |journal=Nature Reviews Endocrinology |date=2015 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=132 |doi=10.1038/nrendo.2015.14 |pmid=25645704|s2cid=52861069 }} Mukherjee's team have shown that OCR cells can be transplanted into animals, and they can regenerate cartilage and bone after fractures. With Daniel L. Worthley's team at the University of Adelaide and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute they have been working on the translational cell-based research on osteoarthritis and cancer.{{cite journal |last1=Lannagan |first1=Tamsin R M |last2=Lee |first2=Young K |last3=Wang |first3=Tongtong |last4=Roper |first4=Jatin |last5=Bettington |first5=Mark L |last6=Fennell |first6=Lochlan |last7=Vrbanac |first7=Laura |last8=Jonavicius |first8=Lisa |last9=Somashekar |first9=Roshini |last10=Gieniec |first10=Krystyna |last11=Yang |first11=Miao |last12=Ng |first12=Jia Q |last13=Suzuki |first13=Nobumi |last14=Ichinose |first14=Mari |last15=Wright |first15=Josephine A |last16=Kobayashi |first16=Hiroki |last17=Putoczki |first17=Tracey L |last18=Hayakawa |first18=Yoku |last19=Leedham |first19=Simon J |last20=Abud |first20=Helen E |last21=Yilmaz |first21=Ömer H |last22=Marker |first22=Julie |last23=Klebe |first23=Sonja |last24=Wirapati |first24=Pratyaksha |last25=Mukherjee |first25=Siddhartha |last26=Tejpar |first26=Sabine |last27=Leggett |first27=Barbara A |last28=Whitehall |first28=Vicki L J |last29=Worthley |first29=Daniel L |last30=Woods |first30=Susan L |title=Genetic editing of colonic organoids provides a molecularly distinct and orthotopic preclinical model of serrated carcinogenesis |journal=Gut |pages=gutjnl–2017–315920 |date=2018 |volume=68 |issue=4 |doi=10.1136/gutjnl-2017-315920 |pmid=29666172 |pmc=6192855 |display-authors=8}}

=Metabolic therapies for cancer=

Mukherjee's lab has also been investigating the interaction between cancer genetics and the microenvironment, including the metabolic environment. It has been well established that metabolism in cancer is fundamentally altered,{{cite journal |last1=Hammoudi |first1=Naima |last2=Riaz Ahmed |first2=Kausar Begam |last3=Garcia-Prieto |first3=Celia |last4=Huang |first4=Peng |title=Metabolic alterations in cancer cells and therapeutic implications |journal=Chinese Journal of Cancer |date=2011 |volume=30 |issue=8 |pages=508–525 |doi=10.5732/cjc.011.10267 |pmid=21801600 |pmc=4013402}} Mukherjee's team has found the role of a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet (ketogenic diet) in cancer therapy. They showed that ketogenic diet suppressed insulin production in the body, and this in turn enhances pharmaceutical inhibition of PIK3CA, a gene which is mutated and commonly overactive in cancers.{{cite journal |last1=Cantley |first1=Lewis C. |title=Abstract KN01: Keynote Lecture: PI 3-kinase links obesity, insulin resistance, and cancer |journal=Molecular Cancer Therapeutics |date=2018 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=KN01 |doi=10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-17-KN01 |url=http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/17/1_Supplement/KN01 |url-access=subscription }}

=Immune therapies for acute leukemia=

Mukherjee's lab, with the help of PureTech Health plc, has been investigating chimeric antigen receptor redirected T cells (CAR-T) therapy in a joint venture called Vor BioPharma since 2016.{{cite news |last1=Craig |first1=Jessica |title=CAR T-cell start-up launched |url=https://www.mdedge.com/oncologypractice/article/108773/leukemia-myelodysplasia-transplantation/car-t-cell-start-launched |access-date=26 June 2018 |work=mdedge.com |publisher= Frontline Medical Communications Inc. |date=10 May 2016}} They have combined CAR-T therapies with genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells to specifically target malignant hematopoietic lineages, while transplanted stem cells replenish the lineage but remain antigenically concealed. This technology has been developed so that, in addition to B cell malignancies, other lineage specific cancers could be targeted.{{cite web |title=About VOR |url=http://www.vorbiopharma.com/ |website=Vor Biopharma |access-date=26 June 2018}} This provides an important new approach to managing acute myeloid leukemia.{{cite news |last1=Walters |first1=Jenny |title=Beyond B cells |url=https://www.biocentury.com/bc-innovations/emerging-company-profile/2018-05-17/how-vor-biopharma%E2%80%99s-platform-could-eliminate- |access-date=26 June 2018 |work=Biocentury |date=18 May 2018}}

Books

In 2010, Simon & Schuster published his book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer{{cite book|last=Mukherjee|first=Siddhartha|title=The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rF_31RVTnMC|access-date=6 September 2011|date=16 November 2010|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4391-0795-9}} detailing the evolution of diagnosis and treatment of human cancers from ancient Egypt to the latest developments in chemotherapy and targeted therapy.{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091110/jsp/frontpage/story_11718907.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114140052/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091110/jsp/frontpage/story_11718907.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 November 2009 | publisher = The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | title = Chronicler of cancer, emperor of maladies | last = Roy | first = Amit | date = 10 November 2009 | access-date = 6 September 2011}} On 18 April 2011, the book won the annual Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction; the citation called it "an elegant inquiry, at once clinical and personal, into the long history of an insidious disease that, despite treatment breakthroughs, still bedevils medical science."[http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2011-General-Nonfiction "The 2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners: General Nonfiction"]. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 12 November 2013. It was listed in the "All-Time 100 Nonfiction Books" (the 100 most influential books of the last century) and the "Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2010" by Time in 2011.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2035319_2034029_2034019,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213013501/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2035319_2034029_2034019,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=13 December 2010 | magazine=Time | title=The Top 10 Everything of 2010 | date=9 December 2010 | access-date = 6 September 2011}} It was also listed in "The 10 Best Books of 2010" by The New York Times{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/books/review/10-best-books-of-2010.html | work=The New York Times | title=The 10 Best Books of 2010 | date=1 December 2010 | access-date = 6 September 2011}} and "Top 10 Books of 2010" by O, The Oprah Magazine.{{cite web | url = http://www.oprah.com/book/The-Emperor-of-All-Maladies-A-Biography-of-Cancer-by-Siddhartha-Mukherjee?cat_id= | title = The Emperor of All Maladies (Book Review) | publisher = Oprah.com | last = Sehgal | first = Parul | access-date = 6 September 2011}} In 2011, it was nominated as a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.{{cite web |title=All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists |url=http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219185409/http://www.bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 December 2008 |publisher=National Book Critics Circle |access-date=25 June 2018}}

Based on the book, Ken Burns made a PBS Television documentary film Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies in 2015,{{cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |title=Review: In 'Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,' Battling an Opportunistic Killer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/arts/television/review-in-cancer-the-emperor-of-all-maladies-battling-an-opportunistic-killer.html |date=27 March 2015 |work=The New York Times |access-date=31 March 2015 }} which was nominated for an Emmy Award.{{cite news|title=Siddhartha Mukherjee's Touching Cancer Docu Nominated at the Emmys|url=https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/2015/07/24/siddhartha-mukherjees-touching-cancer-docu-nominated-at-the-emmys|access-date=8 May 2017|work=The Quint|date=24 August 2015}}

Mukherjee's 2016 book The Gene: An Intimate History provides a history of genetic research, but also delves into the personal genetic history of the author's family, including mental illness. The book discusses the power of genetics in determining people's health and attributes, but it also has a cautionary tone to not let genetic predispositions define fate, a mentality that led to the rise of eugenics in history and something he thinks lacks the nuance required to understand something as complex as human beings. Harriet Hall describes Cancer and The Gene as "the story of science itself".{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Harriet|author-link= Harriet Hall |title=The Story of the Gene |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2017 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=59–61 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquirer}} The Gene was shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2016, "the Nobel Prize of science writing".{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/04/bill-bryson-hails-thrilling-royal-society-science-book-prize-shortlist|title=Bill Bryson hails 'thrilling' Royal Society science book prize shortlist|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=2016-08-04|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-09-22}} The book was also the recipient of the 2017 Phi Beta Kappa Society Book Award in Science.{{cite news|last1=DeSimone|first1=Bailey|title=The Key Reporter – Siddhartha Mukherjee|url=http://www.keyreporter.org/AlumniNews/MemberSpotlight/Details/2368.html|work=www.keyreporter.org|agency=The Key Reporter|publisher=The Phi Beta Kappa Society|date=1 December 2017}}

Ken Burns made a two-part PBS Television documentary film The Gene: An Intimate History in 2020.{{Cite journal |last=Govindaraju |first=Diddahally R. |date=2020 |title=A Chronicle on Genetics and the March of Darwinian and Mendelian Medicine |journal=Evolution |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=15 |doi=10.1186/s12052-020-00129-5 |issn=1936-6426 |pmc=7330526 |doi-access=free }}

In his book The Song of the Cell, published in 2022, Mukherjee describes the history and medical mystery from the discovery of cell. Narrated in metaphors, many of which he created, such as "gunslinging sheriff" for antibody and "gumshoe detective" to T cell, he tells the development of cell biology and how it became vital to modern medicine, from genetic engineering to immunotherapies.{{Cite news |last=Szalai |first=Jennifer |date=2022-10-24 |title=Siddhartha Mukherjee Finds Medical Mystery — and Metaphor — in the Tiny Cell |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/24/books/review/the-song-of-the-cell-siddhartha-mukherjee.html |access-date=2022-11-12 |issn=0362-4331}} Suzanne O'Sullivan, reviewing in The Guardian, explains the book as a tool for "the reader to imagine they are an astronaut investigating the cell as if it is an unknown spacecraft".{{Cite web |last=O'Sullivan |first=Suzanne |date=2022-11-03 |title=Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee review – the little lives within us |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/nov/03/song-of-the-cell-by-siddhartha-mukherjee-review-the-little-lives-within-us |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}

=Criticism and response=

In his 2016 article "Same but different" in The New Yorker, Mukherjee attributed the most important genetic functions to epigenetic factors (such as histone modification and DNA methylation). Giving an analogy of his mother and her twin sister, he explains:

Chance events—injuries, infections, infatuations; the haunting trill of that particular nocturne—impinge on one twin and not on the other. Genes are turned on and off in response to these events, as epigenetic marks are gradually layered above genes, etching the genome with its own scars, calluses, and freckles.{{cite magazine |last1=Mukherjee |first1=S. |date=2 May 2016 |title=Same but different |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/02/breakthroughs-in-epigenetics |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=8 May 2017}}

Mukherjee also claimed that understanding of epigenetics "would overturn fundamental principles of biology, including our understanding of evolution," as he said:

Conceptually, a key element of classical Darwinian evolution is that genes do not retain an organism's experiences in a permanently heritable manner. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, in the early nineteenth century, had supposed that when an antelope strained its neck to reach a tree its efforts were somehow passed down and its progeny evolved into giraffes. Darwin discredited that model. Giraffes, he proposed, arose through heritable variation and natural selection—a tall-necked specimen appears in an ancestral tree-grazing animal, and, perhaps during a period of famine, this mutant survives and is naturally selected. But, if epigenetic information can be transmitted through sperm and eggs, an organism would seem to have a direct conduit to the heritable features of its progeny. Such a system would act as a wormhole for evolution—a shortcut through the glum cycles of mutation and natural selection... Lamarck is being rehabilitated into the new Darwin.

The article, an excerpt from the chapter "The First Derivative of Identity" of his book The Gene: An Intimate History,{{cite book|last1=Mukherjee|first1=S.|title=The Gene: An Intimate History|publisher=Penguin|location=UK|isbn=978-1-4767-3352-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8syDAAAQBAJ&q=siddhartha+mukherjee+gene+tulu&pg=PT373|date=2016-05-17}} "unleashed a torrent of criticism" from geneticists, as The Guardian book review wrote.{{Cite web |last=Shapin |first=Steven |date=2016-05-25 |title=The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee review – 'one of the most dangerous ideas in history' |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/25/the-gene-an-intimate-history-siddhartha-mukherjee-review |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} As David Hornby of the University of Sheffield put it: "all (scientific) hell broke loose! It seemed to some that the slumbering giant of Lamarck was about to gain a new audience."{{Cite web |last=Hornby |first=David |date=2017-10-17 |title=Epigenetics: past and present |url=https://thebiochemistblog.com/2017/10/17/epigenetics-past-and-present/ |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=The Biochemist Blog |publisher=Biochemical Society, London, UK |language=en}} Mukherjee foresaw the reaction, as he noted: "These fantasies should invite skepticism."

The article was critiqued by geneticists such as Mark Ptashne, at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and John Greally, at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, because of overemphasis on histone modification and DNA methylation. They commented that these two processes have only minor influences in overall gene function. Steven Henikoff, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, opined that, "Mukherjee seemed not to realize that transcription factors occupy the top of the hierarchy of epigenetic information," and said, "histone modifications at most act as cogs in the machinery."{{cite journal |last1=Woolston |first1=Chris |date=2016 |title=Researcher under fire for New Yorker epigenetics article |journal=Nature |volume=533 |issue=7603 |pages=295 |bibcode=2016Natur.533..295W |doi=10.1038/533295f |doi-access=free}} Omission of transcription factors was viewed as an "overarching" mistake,{{Cite web |last=Resnick |first=Brian |date=2016-05-07 |title=Why scientists are infuriated with a New Yorker article on epigenetics |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/5/7/11606886/scientists-angry-new-yorker-epigenetics |access-date=2022-09-19 |website=Vox |language=en}} as Richard Mann at the Columbia University Medical Center remarked: "Only a talmudic-like reading can reveal a hint that something other than histone modifications are at play."

It is now generally believed that histone modification and DNA methylations are major factors of epigenetic functions, aging and certain diseases,{{cite journal |last1=López |first1=V. |last2=Fernández |first2=A.F. |last3=Fraga |first3=M.F. |date=2017 |title=The role of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in development, aging and age-related diseases |journal=Ageing Research Reviews |volume=37 |pages=28–38 |doi=10.1016/j.arr.2017.05.002 |pmid=28499883 |s2cid=3748806}} and with an ability to influence transcription factors.{{cite journal |last1=Yin |first1=Yimeng |last2=Morgunova |first2=Ekaterina |last3=Jolma |first3=Arttu |last4=Kaasinen |first4=Eevi |last5=Sahu |first5=Biswajyoti |last6=Khund-Sayeed |first6=Syed |last7=Das |first7=Pratyush K. |last8=Kivioja |first8=Teemu |last9=Dave |first9=Kashyap |last10=Zhong |first10=Fan |last11=Nitta |first11=Kazuhiro R. |last12=Taipale |first12=Minna |last13=Popov |first13=Alexander |last14=Ginno |first14=Paul A. |last15=Domcke |first15=Silvia |display-authors=8 |date=2017 |title=Impact of cytosine methylation on DNA binding specificities of human transcription factors |journal=Science |volume=356 |issue=6337 |pages=eaaj2239 |doi=10.1126/science.aaj2239 |pmc=8009048 |pmid=28473536 |last16=Yan |first16=Jian |last17=Schübeler |first17=Dirk |last18=Vinson |first18=Charles |last19=Taipale |first19=Jussi |s2cid=206653898}} However, they contribute little to development.{{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=John R. |last2=Yarychkivska |first2=Olya |last3=Boulard |first3=Mathieu |last4=Bestor |first4=Timothy H. |date=2017 |title=DNA methylation and DNA methyltransferases |journal=Epigenetics & Chromatin |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=23 |doi=10.1186/s13072-017-0130-8 |pmc=5422929 |pmid=28503201 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=Hongjie |last2=Xu |first2=Wenqi |last3=Lan |first3=Fei |date=2017 |title=Histone lysine demethylases in mammalian embryonic development |journal=Experimental & Molecular Medicine |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=e325 |doi=10.1038/emm.2017.57 |pmc=6130211 |pmid=28450736}} In response, Mukherjee did admit that omission of transcription factors "was an error" on his part. However, The New Yorker defended the article that: "None of it negates the fundamental importance of transcription factors."

Jerry Coyne of the University of Chicago remarked: "Until there is evidence for this kind of evolutionary transformation—ANY evidence, people should stop yammering about this kind of 'Lamarckian' evolution."{{Cite web |last=Ball |first=Phillip |date=2016-06-07 |title=The genetics debate has been derailed—by both sides |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/science-and-technology/the-genetics-debate-as-been-derailed-by-both-sides |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=Prospect |language=en}} Phillip Ball, British science writer and editor of the journal Nature, also agreed that Mukherjee certainly "got some things wrong". Writing in the Prospect, he said, "Such claims [that some epigenetic changes can be inherited] are controversial—but even if they prove to be true, it seems highly unlikely that the effect will persist for many generations or will have long-term consequences for human evolution." According to Ute Deichmann of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, even if there are evidences of variation by epigenetic inheritance, they would not be counted as Lamarckian as they are not acquired or adaptive.{{Cite journal |last=Deichmann |first=Ute |date=2016 |title=Epigenetics: The origins and evolution of a fashionable topic |journal=Developmental Biology |volume=416 |issue=1 |pages=249–254 |doi=10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.06.005 |issn=1095-564X |pmid=27291929|doi-access=free }}

Mukherjee did not say that epigenetic processes have established Lamarckism, as he noted in his article that "epigenetic scratch marks are rarely, if ever, carried forward across generations." In an interview on NPR, he said, "[Lamarckian inheritance is] very rarely true and I would say almost never true".{{Cite news |title=The Power Of Genes, And The Line Between Biology And Destiny |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/528097708/the-power-of-genes-and-the-line-between-biology-and-destiny |access-date=2022-09-19}}

Mukherjee also criticises the IQ test as a measure of intelligence, and endorses the theory of multiple intelligences (introduced by Howard Gardner) over general intelligence. He argues that the results of IQ tests for determining general intelligence do not represent intelligence in the real world. Reviewing the book in The Spectator, Stuart Ritchie, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, remarked that Gardner's theory is "debunked" and that "general intelligence is probably the most well-replicated phenomenon in all of psychological science."{{cite news|last1=Ritchie|first1=Stuart|title=How Siddhartha Mukherjee gets it wrong on IQ, sexuality and epigenetics|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/how-siddhartha-mukherjee-gets-the-gene-wrong/|access-date=8 May 2017|work=The Spectator|date=28 May 2016}}

Bibliography

= Books =

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (2010) ({{ISBN|978-0-00-725092-9}}).{{cite journal|author=Suh, Dong Hoon|journal=J Gynecol Oncol|title=Book Review: The emperor of all maladies: a biography of cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee|date=October 2012|volume=23|issue=4|pages=291–292|doi=10.3802/jgo.2012.23.4.291|pmc=3469866}}
The Laws of Medicine: Field Notes from an Uncertain Science (2015) ({{ISBN|978-1-4711-4185-0}}).Siddhartha Mukherjee, [http://books.simonandschuster.com/The-Laws-of-Medicine/Siddhartha-Mukherjee/9781476784847 The Laws of Medicine: Field Notes from an Uncertain Science], Simon & Schuster, 2015 (page visited on 10 December 2015).
The Gene: An Intimate History (2016) ({{ISBN|978-1476733500}}).James Gleick, "The Gene, by Siddhartha Mukherjee, [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/books/review/the-gene-by-siddhartha-mukherjee.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbook-review&action=click&contentCollection=review®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0New York Times May 15, 2016 review]
The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human (2022) ({{ISBN|9781982117351}}).{{Cite news |last=Nolen |first=Stephanie |date=2022-09-09 |title=Siddhartha Mukherjee Weaves History and Biology to Tell the Story of Us |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/books/siddhartha-mukherjee-books-song-cell.html |access-date=2022-09-17 |issn=0362-4331}}

= Essays and reporting =

{{cite journal |author=Mukherjee, Siddhartha |date=March 1, 2021 |title=The COVID conundrum : why does the pandemic seem far deadlier in some countries than in others? |department=Coronavirus Chronicles |journal=The New Yorker |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=18–24 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/01/why-does-the-pandemic-seem-to-be-hitting-some-countries-harder-than-others }}Online version is titled "Why does the pandemic seem to be hitting some countries harder than others?".

———————

;Bibliography notes

Awards and honours

File:The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Shri Award to Dr. Siddhartha Mukharjee, at an Investiture Ceremony-II, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on April 26, 2014.jpg

Mukherjee has won many awards including:

1993: Rhodes Scholarship, 1993–1996.
2010: Gabrielle Angel's Leukemia Foundation Award 2010.
2010: New York Times Magazine, "100 Notable Books of 2010" for The Emperor of All Maladies.
2011: Los Angeles Times Book Award, Finalist in the category of Science & Technology for The Emperor of All Maladies.{{cite web|url=http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/year-2010/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223185108/http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/year-2010/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-02-23|title=2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners & Finalists|date=2011|author=Los Angeles Times Book Review Editorial Staff|work=Los Angeles Times Festival of Books|access-date=28 September 2014}}
2011: Pulitzer Prize for The Emperor of All Maladies.
2011: PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award for The Emperor of All Maladies.{{cite web |title=PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Winners |date=28 April 2016 |url=https://pen.org/pene-o-wilson-literary-science-writing-award-winners/ |publisher=Pen America |access-date=25 June 2018}}
2011: Cancer Leadership Award (shared with Kathleen Sebelius and Orrin Hatch).{{cite web |title=Annual Cancer Leadership Awards Reception |url=https://www.focr.org/annual-cancer-leadership-awards-reception |publisher=Friends of Cancer Research |access-date=25 June 2018}}
2011: National Book Critics Circle Award, finalist for The Emperor of All Maladies.
2011: Time magazine, 100 best non-fiction books of all time for The Emperor of All Maladies.
2011: Time 100, most influential people.{{cite magazine |title=The 2011 TIME 100 Poll Results |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2061021,00.html |access-date=25 June 2018 |magazine=Time}}
2011: Wellcome Trust Book Prize shortlist for The Emperor of All Maladies.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61585-7 |title=2011 Wellcome Trust Book Prize shortlist |journal=The Lancet |volume=378 |issue=9801 |pages=1454 |year=2011 |last1=Bourke |first1=Joanna |s2cid=54401744 }}
2011: Guardian First Book Award for The Emperor of All Maladies.
2012: Boston Public Library Literary Lights 2012.{{cite news |last1=Farrington |first1=Roger |title=The Associates of the Boston Public Library's "Literary Lights" Dinner |url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/wellesley/an--the-associates-of-the-boston-public-librarys-lite58ba978764 |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=Wellesley Patch |date=25 April 2012}}
2014: Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by Government of India.{{cite web|title=Padma Awards Announced|publisher=Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India|url=http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=69364|date=25 January 2014|access-date=26 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222101141/http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=102735|archive-date=22 February 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
2016: The Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2016 (shortlisted) for The Gene.{{cite web|title=Shortlist for The Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2016 unveiled|url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2016/08/shortlist-for-science-book-prize-2016-unveiled/|publisher=The Royal Society|access-date=17 May 2017|date=6 August 2016}}
2016: Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction longlist for The Gene.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/21/nobel-laureate-longlist-for-uks-top-nonfiction-award-baillie-gifford |title=Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich heads longlist for UK's top nonfiction award |website=TheGuardian.com |date=20 September 2016}}
2016: Washington Post's "10 Best Books of 2016" for The Gene.{{cite news|title=10 Best Books of 2016|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/entertainment/2016-best-books/|access-date=17 May 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=17 November 2016}}
2017: Phi Beta Kappa Society Book Award in Science for The Gene.
2017: Wellcome Book Prize (shortlisted) for The Gene.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2017/03/15/wellcome-book-prize-2017-shortlist-revealed/#5e33e4a26376 |title=Wellcome Book Prize 2017 Shortlist Revealed|date=15 March 2017 | author=GrrlScientist |website=Forbes}}
2018: Honorary doctorate degrees in medicine from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland,{{cite news |last1=NUI |title=Conferring of NUI degrees in RCSI, Dublin – May 2018 |url=http://www.nui.ie/news/2018/RCSI_Conferring.asp |access-date=27 June 2018 |publisher=National University of Ireland |date=31 May 2018}} and from the University of Southern California.{{cite news |last1=Mackovich |first1=Ron |title=USC announces five honorary degree recipients for 2018 commencement |url=https://news.usc.edu/140516/usc-announces-honorary-degree-recipients-for-2018-commencement/ |access-date=27 June 2018 |work=USC News |date=6 April 2018}}

2020 Mukherjee was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Awards{{Cite web |title=Siddhartha Mukherjee |url=https://www.carnegie.org/awards/honoree/siddhartha-mukherjee/ |access-date=June 25, 2024 |website=Carnegie Corporation of New York}}
2023: The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human. Notable Book, American Library Association. Reference and User Services Association.2023, American Library Association. Reference and User Services Association. [https://rusaupdate.org/2023/01/2023-notable-books-list-announced-years-best-in-fiction-nonfiction-and-poetry/ 2023 Notable Books List Announced: Year's Best in Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry]
2023: Elected to the National Academy of Medicine.{{cite news |title=National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members |url=https://nam.edu/national-academy-of-medicine-elects-100-new-members-2023/ |access-date=9 October 2023 |work=National Academy of Medicine |date=9 October 2023}}
2024: Will receive an honorary Doctor of Sciences from University of Pennsylvania.{{Cite web |title=Penn's 2024 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients Announced |url=https://almanac.upenn.edu/articles/penns-2024-commencement-speaker-and-honorary-degree-recipients-announced |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=almanac.upenn.edu |language=en}}

Personal life

Mukherjee lives in New York and is married to artist Sarah Sze, winner of a MacArthur "Genius" grant and representative of the United States to the 2013 Venice Biennale. They have two daughters, Leela and Aria.{{cite web |last1=Kazanjian |first1=Dodie |title=Meet the Most Brilliant Couple in Town |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/sarah-sze-siddhartha-mukherjee-brilliant-couple-profile-sculptor-writer-physician-scientist-researcher |publisher=Vogue |date=2016-05-11}}

References

External links

{{cite web

|title = Introducing the Biographer of Cancer

|url = http://ps.columbia.edu/news/introducing-biographer-cancer

|publisher = Columbia University Medical Center

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110116032031/http://ps.columbia.edu/news/introducing-biographer-cancer

|archive-date = 16 January 2011

|df = dmy-all

}}

[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/opinion/sunday/17Mukherjee.html Patrolling Cancer's Borderlands], The New York Times, 16 July 2011.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/opinion/sunday/17Mukherjee.html, Lives – The Letting Go], The New York Times, 26 August 2011
[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17cellphones-t.html?pagewanted=all Do Cellphones Cause Brain Cancer?], The New York Times, 13 April 2011.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/the-science-and-history-of-treating-depression.html?pagewanted=all The Science and History of Treating Depression], The New York Times, 19 April 2012.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/magazine/31Cancer-t.html?pagewanted=all, The Riddle of Cancer Relapse], The Cancer Sleeper Cell, The New York Times, 29 October 2010
[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/the-science-and-history-of-treating-depression.html?pagewanted=all Post-Prozac Nation], By Siddhartha Mukherjee, The New York Times, 22 April 2012.
{{LCAuth|n2010182374|Siddhartha Mukherjee|3|}}
{{C-SPAN|9276551}}
The Gene nominated for [https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/science-books-prize/the-gene/ Royal Society Prize]