Kersten T. Hall

Insulin - The Crooked Timber (eBook, PDF)

A History from Thick Brown Muck to Wall Street Gold

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Before the discovery of insulin, a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. One hundred years after a milestone medical discovery, 'Insulin - The Crooked Timber' tells the story of how insulin was transformed from what one clinician called 'thick brown muck' into the very first drug to be produced using genetic engineering, one which would earn the founders of the US biotech company Genentech a small fortune. Yet when Canadian doctor Frederick Banting was told in 1923 that he had won the Nobel Prize for this life-saving discovery, he was furious. For the prize had not been awarded to him alone - but jointly with a man whom he felt had no right to this honour. The human story behind this discovery is one of ongoing political and scientific controversy. Taking the reader on a fascinating journey, starting with the discovery of insulin in the 1920s through to the present day, 'Insulin - The Crooked Timber' reveals a story of monstrous egos, toxic career rivalries, and a few unsung heroes such as two little known scientists whose work on wool fibres, carried out in a fume-filled former stable, not only proved to be crucial in unravelling the puzzle of insulin but ushered in a revolution in biology. It was the author's own shocking diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes that prompted him to sit down and write this book, but this story has lessons for us all about what technology can - and more importantly cannot - do for us. As the world pins its hopes on effective and lasting vaccines against Covid-19, these lessons from the story of insulin have never been more relevant.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 440
• Erscheinungstermin: 20. Dezember 2021
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780192667823
• Artikelnr.: 63208998

Autorenporträt

Kersten Hall graduated with an honours degree in biochemistry from St. Anne's College, University of Oxford, and completed a PhD in gene regulation in adenoviruses before working for the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds. He then hung up his lab coat and began to write about science. His book 'The Man in the Monkeynut Coat' (OUP 2014) tells the story of pioneering physicist William Astbury whose research into wool fibres led him to make the very first studies of the structure of DNA. The book was shortlisted for the 2015 British Society for the History of Science Dingle Prize and was featured on a list of 'Books of 2014' in The Guardian. He is currently a visiting fellow in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds where his research concerns the history of molecular biology but after a shocking diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes ten years ago he turned to the story of insulin.

Inhaltsangabe

* Preface
* Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth?
* Introduction
* Taming the Tiger
* 1: The Pissing Evil - a colourful description of diabetes by 17th
century English physician Thomas Willis
* 2: Thick Brown Muck - Canadian scientist Fred Banting wins the Nobel
Prize for the discovery of insulin... and is furious
* 3: The Vision of Ezekiel - clinicians are stunned at the power of
insulin to save lives, but it proves to be a double-edged sword
* 4: A Greek Tragedy - German clinician Georg Zuelzer snatches defeat
from the jaws of victory
* 5: The Wasp's Nest - insulin proves to be a poisoned chalice for its
discoverers
* 6: Be Careful What You Wish For - the case of Romanian scientist
Nicolai Paulesco underlines the truth of an old proverb
* 7: 'In Praise of Wool' - the humble wool fibre sets in motion a
revolution in biochemistry
* 8: A Boastful Undertaking - a discovery made in a fume-filled stable
offers the key to unlocking insulin
* 9: The Blobs That Won a Nobel Prize - or two, all thanks to some
coloured spots on a piece of filter paper
* 10: The Prophet in the Labyrinth - biochemist Erwin Chargaff helps
unlock the secrets of DNA, but fears where this may lead
* 11: The Clone Wars - a conflict in which insulin proves to be a
decisive weapon
* 12: Wall Street Gold - in an act of modern day alchemy, insulin makes
stock market history
* 13: 'Don't You Want Cheap Insulin?' - What is it exactly that we want
from science? And does the story of insulin have any lessons for us
today?
* Bibliography
* Figures List and Acknowledgements for Images
* Acknowledgements
* End notes