Exploring the Biomedical Revolution: A Look at the Work of Frontline Scientists and How They are Changing Medicine

The 20th century was an era of great biomedical discoveries: the development of antibiotics and other lifesaving medications, new insights into the genetic code and the workings of the brain, refined techniques for cloning and organ transplantation. However, many of the discoveries seem mysterious to the layperson who has never heard of x-ray crystallography or who is unfamiliar with the ways that genes and proteins direct the workings of the body. This illustrated volume aims to unravel the mysteries, allowing readers to explore biomedical research and to understand its impact on the fight against human disease. In his introduction, Philip Leder describes a revolution through every area of biomedicine - immunology, brain chemistry, parasitology, develomental biology - which has granted an intimacy with nature's workings which was once unimaginable. The text goes on to tell the human stories behind the research; the scientists' excitement at new discoveries and their competition and co-operation on the development of treatments for Lyme disease, sickle cell anaemia and AIDS. The reader is also shown creative problem-solving, as one scientist inserts the gene for luciferase - a protein from fireflies - into a strain of tuberculosis, thus producing lab samples that glow in the dark. Throughout, the patients' perspective is also shown, detailing the symptoms of malaria or cystic fibrosis or showing how the treatment of haemophilia has changed over the years.

Table of Contents:
Blazing a genetic trail; from egg to adult; seeing, hearing and smelling the world; blood - bearer of life and death; the race against lethal microbes; arousing the fury of the immune system; finding the critical shapes.

About the Author :
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute was founded in 1953 by the aviator-industrialist Howard R. Hughes. The editor and principal writer for this volume, Maya Pines, was the senior science editor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for more than ten years, beginning in 1987.

Review :
"A vivid example of how biology, history, and medicine interact to focus on human welfare." -- JosA(c) VAzquez, American Biology Teacher "Many titles on biomedicine are inaccessible to lay audiences; not so this book, which focuses on explanations which are easy to understand, yet with plenty of scientific detail added for those involved in health care. Highly recommended." -- Reviewer's Bookwatch "No matter what kind of a scientist you are, or even if you are just an interested layman, I suggest you have this book on your bedside table and read a few pages every day before sleeping. It is pleasant reading, beautifully illustrated and provides excellent cultural material which no one should ignore." -- Jacques Dubochet, EMBO Reports "This book offers an enticing introduction to recent biomedical research." -- Victoria A. Harden, Quarterly Review of Biology A vivid example of how biology, history, and medicine interact to focus on human welfare.--Jos? V?zquez "American Biology Teacher " No matter what kind of a scientist you are, or even if you are just an interested layman, I suggest you have this book on your bedside table and read a few pages every day before sleeping. It is pleasant reading, beautifully illustrated and provides excellent cultural material which no one should ignore.--Jacques Dubochet "EMBO Reports " This book offers an enticing introduction to recent biomedical research.--Victoria A. Harden "Quarterly Review of Biology " "A vivid example of how biology, history, and medicine interact to focus on human welfare." -- Jos Vzquez, American Biology Teacher "Many titles on biomedicine are inaccessible to lay audiences; not so this book, which focuses on explanations which are easy to understand, yet with plenty of scientific detail added for those involved in health care. Highly recommended." -- Reviewer's Bookwatch "No matter what kind of a scientist you are, or even if you are just an interested layman, I suggest you have this book on your bedside table and read a few pages every day before sleeping. It is pleasant reading, beautifully illustrated and provides excellent cultural material which no one should ignore." -- Jacques Dubochet, EMBO Reports "This book offers an enticing introduction to recent biomedical research." -- Victoria A. Harden, Quarterly Review of Biology