One Renegade Cell- Book Review
Robert Weinberg’s book One Renegade Cell describes the development of cancer research and our
understanding of the disease through the last century. Weinberg begins his book with a simplified
explanation of cell biology and what cancer is - using apt analogies that make the book easy to
understand for someone who has little to no background in cancer biology (like me!)
As we move through the book, Weinberg takes us chronologically through the various discoveries in
cancer research. One Renegade Cell is not written as a textbook, with information being spewed all
at once, but rather it takes us through a journey of how cancer research took place. Weinberg traces
how researchers struggled with figuring out if cancer was a disease caused by viruses, or our body
itself - through chemicals which changed the body’s internal pathways somehow. He then takes us
through how researchers found proto-oncogenes and oncogenes and how tumors are formed
through multi-step mutations.
The way the book is structured keeps readers on their toes as all information about cancer is not
revealed at once, but gradually, as researchers made the discoveries. This builds suspense and makes
for an interesting read. Weinberg uses analogies throughout the book to explain otherwise tough
concepts, like the analogy of the ‘cell cycle clock’ for the complex web of cell signaling.
Weinberg explains how carcinogens and mutagens are linked, but not all carcinogens are mutagens
(like alcohol), and how it is not only oncogenes, but also the loss of tumor suppressor genes which
cause tumors – especially p53 which is a major player in halting the cell cycle and causing apoptosis.
Through the book, he illustrates the different aspects of biology and research that came together to
make discoveries in cancer – including epidemiology, and the study of inherited genes that made one
more prone to cancers like familial retinoblastoma.
He then goes on to explain the discoveries in the later part of the century – how mutations in DNA
repair genes cause cancers, the role of telomerase in immortality of cells, and how CDKs and Cyclins
are vital to cell cycle regulation. In the last few chapters, Weinberg also explains the various cell
regulatory mechanisms that have to fail in order for a tumor to form – gene mutations, the activation
of telomerase, angiogenesis, and autocrine signaling – all that a normal cell do not show.
In conclusion, Weinberg explains how cancer metastasis causes around 90% of cancer deaths, and
that lifestyle factors play a major role in the onset of cancer. He ends the book optimistically, hoping
that advancements in technology and further understanding of the disease would help us bring an
end to cancer.