عنوان

A contagious cause :

022645889X

022662837X

9780226458892

9780226628370

9780226628400

A contagious cause :

[Book]

the American hunt for cancer viruses and the rise of molecular medicine /

Robin Wolfe Scheffler.

Chicago :

The University of Chicago Press,

2019.

©2019

viii, 379 pages :

illustrations ;

23 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-364) and index.

Introduction: "an infectious disease, a virus" -- Cancer and contagion -- Cancer as a viral disease -- Policymakers and philanthropists define the cancer problem -- The biomedical settlement and the federalization of the cancer problem -- Managing the future at the Special Virus Leukemia Program -- Administrative objects and the infrastructure of cancer virus research -- Viruses as a central front in the war on cancer -- Molecular biology's resistance to the war on cancer -- The West Coast retrovirus rush and the discovery of oncogenes -- Momentum for molecular medicine -- Conclusion: afterlife, memory, and failure in biomedical research.

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"Is cancer a contagious disease? In the late nineteenth century this idea, and attending efforts to identify a cancer "germ," inspired fear and ignited controversy. Yet speculation that cancer might be contagious also contained a kernel of hope that the strategies used against infectious diseases, especially vaccination, might be able to subdue this dread disease. Today, nearly one in six cancers are thought to have an infectious cause, but the path to that understanding was twisting and turbulent. A Contagious Cause is the first book to trace the century-long hunt for a human cancer virus in America, an effort whose scale exceeded that of the Human Genome Project. The government's campaign merged the worlds of molecular biology, public health, and military planning in the name of translating laboratory discoveries into useful medical therapies. However, its expansion into biomedical research sparked fierce conflict. Many biologists dismissed the suggestion that research should be planned and the idea of curing cancer by a vaccine or any other means as unrealistic, if not dangerous. Although the American hunt was ultimately fruitless, this effort nonetheless profoundly shaped our understanding of life at its most fundamental levels. A Contagious Cause links laboratory and legislature as has rarely been done before, creating a new chapter in the histories of science and American politics."--

Cancer-- Etiology-- Research-- United States-- History.

Molecular biology-- United States-- History.

Oncogenic viruses-- Research-- United States-- History.

Virology-- Research-- United States-- History.

Biomedical Research-- history.

History, 20th Century.

Molecular Biology-- history.

Neoplasms-- virology.

Oncogenic Viruses.

Virology-- history.

Cancer-- Etiology-- Research.

Molecular biology.

Oncogenic viruses-- Research.

Virology-- Research.

United States.

United States.

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Scheffler, Robin Wolfe

20200822102725.0

rda

[Book]

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