|
We are in the midst of a quiet revolution
in medicine called immunotherapy, a form of medicine that
takes its lessons from the very bodies it seeks to treat.
Employing the immune system's cells, its molecules, its
hormones, its intricate interactions, and its exquisite
timing, immunological methods are now employed to treat
cancer, AIDS, chronic viral diseases, and other ailments.
Beginning with the "occasional miracles"
of a mysterious turn-of-the-century cancer vaccine called
Coley's toxins, Stephen S. Hall traces the story of how
doctors have learned to use the immune system and its "commotions,"
as one physician put it, to develop a wide array of cutting-edge
therapies. Traveling between laboratory and bedside, Hall's
absorbing narrative navigates the politics of discovery
and explains the dazzling complexities of human blood, tracking
the potent molecules and powerful cells at the heart of
the immune response. As Hall proceeds across continents
and time, he discusses interferon, tumor necrosis factors,
and the newest and most promising substances to trigger
a "commotion," such as interleukin-2. From the
author of "the best book written about the new age
of biology" (Nobel Prize winner Phillip Sharp) comes
this fast-paced account of medicine-in-the-making, part
of the Sloan Foundation Technology series.
Stephen S. Hall is the author of the
critically acclaimed Invisible Frontiers and Mapping
the Next Millennium. He has published several cover stories
in The New York Times Magazine and has written for
Smithsonian, Hippocrates, National Geographic
Publications, Science, Health, and The
Atlantic Monthly. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife
and daughter.
|
