 Highbridge, a division of recorded books, presents Gene Machine, the race to decipher the secrets of the ribosome. By Venki Ramakrishnan. Read by Matthew Waterson. Forward by Jennifer Dudner. This is a personal story of the author's experiences as a student, professor, and avid experimentalist seeking to understand how cells carry out one of the most ancient and fundamental of activities, the synthesis of proteins, the passion for discovery, the frustration of experiments gone awry, the personal and professional struggles that accompanied the road to scientific success come alive in this engaging account. The author's perspectives are unique in several ways. As an immigrant to America and later to England, and as a physicist entering the world of biology, the story captures the feelings of an outsider yearning to be part of the scientific and social world he observes. This yearning may have played a role in the approach to research that he describes. There is at once a desire to belong and yet a willingness to be a maverick and to embark on a journey of discovery that seemed at the outset to be a long shot. Then there is the scientific discovery itself. Every structure of the very machinery that reads the genetic code and translates its nucleic acid sequence into chains of amino acids that form all of the proteins necessary for life on Earth. The ribosome, comprised of one large and one small subunit, is uncovered in all its glory with the author's own work revealing the molecular underpinnings of the decoding mechanism of a ribosomal small subunit and the means by which multiple antibiotic drugs block the action of the bacterial ribosome and thereby eliminate microbial infections. The process of determining structures of the ribosomal small subunit from initial efforts with individual components to later tour de force attempts to purify and crystallize the intact small subunit is a fascinating tale of ingenuity, luck and ultimate success. The story is also one of professional dilemmas, the serendipity of discovery and the deeply human nature of research in which personalities play an essential role. Any major scientific breakthrough involves multiple contributors as well as the interactions of scientists grappling with the challenges of discovery and setback that accompany the winding path to understanding. It is not always clear how ideas emerge, whether they are truly one's own or instead an outcrop of discussions with others. Sometimes competition comes between colleagues and must be managed even as the joy of discovery is at hand. The award of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry gave