The Color of North is the first book publication by a faculty member of our department. Our biochemistry professor, Dr. Shahir Rizk, spearheaded this general-audience project on proteins which combined his efforts (largely on a year-long sabbatical) with those of Dr. Maggie Fink while she was working toward her Ph.D. in microbiology at the University of Notre Dame. To write a book together, these two must obviously have a lot in common, but you may be surprised that they are both alumni of IU South Bend (Rizk, B.S. Biology; Fink, B.S. Biochemistry) and are actually both teaching here (Rizk, Assistant Professor; Fink, adjunct instructor). Their book is ready for pre-order and will be available for delivery in May.  The following excerpt is taken from its listing at Amazon.com.  I'm very much looking forward to reading their book.

Taking us beyond the confines of our own experiences, The Color of North traverses the kingdom of life to uncover the myriad ways that proteins shape us and all organisms on the planet. Inside every cell, a tight-knit community of millions of proteins skillfully contort into unique shapes to give fireflies their ghostly glow, enable the octopus to see predators with its skin, and make humans fall in love. Collectively, proteins orchestrate the intricate relationships within ecosystems and forge the trajectory of life. And yet, nature has exploited just a fraction of their immense potential. Shahir Rizk and Maggie Fink show how breathtaking advances in protein engineering are expanding on nature’s repertoire, introducing proteins that can detect environmental pollutants, capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and treat diseases from cancer to COVID-19.

Weaving together themes of memory, migration, and family with cutting-edge research, The Color of North unveils a molecular world in which proteins are the pulsing heart of life. Ultimately, we gain a new appreciation for our intimate connections to the world around us and a deeper understanding of ourselves.