عنوان

A contagious cause :

(Number (ISBN

022645889X

(Number (ISBN

022662837X

(Number (ISBN

9780226458892

(Number (ISBN

9780226628370

Erroneous ISBN

9780226628400

Title Proper

A contagious cause :

General Material Designation

[Book]

Other Title Information

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

First Statement of Responsibility

Robin Wolfe Scheffler.

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Chicago :

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

The University of Chicago Press,

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2019.

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

©2019

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

viii, 379 pages :

Other Physical Details

illustrations ;

Dimensions

23 cm

Text of Note

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

Text of Note

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.

0

Text of Note

"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.

2

7

Number

Edition

Class number

Book number

Class number

Class number

Scheffler, Robin Wolfe

Date of Transaction

20200822102725.0

Cataloguing Rules (Descriptive Conventions))

rda

Electronic name

[Book]

Y