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Federal Bodysnatchers and the New Guinea Virus: Tales of Parasites, People, and Politics
"[Desowitz's] stories...rank among the best current examples of medical detective prose."― Booklist Twenty years ago the world slept, confident that biomedical science would protect it from devastating plagues. Our wake-up call sounded at the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Then came more unfamiliar pathogens in its wake, such as the West Nile virus. Meanwhile, the neglected diseases of the third world, including malaria and African sleeping sickness, festered―their victims salvageable only by unaffordable, patent-protected drugs. Robert S. Desowitz traces the histories of these diseases and the issues we must confront―the morality and legality of patent laws, the effect of global warming on epidemics, public support for the commercial biochemical industry, the growing dissociation of clinicians and public health professionals, and the terrifying shadow of bioterrorism.
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First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 9, 2008
Must read this author if you like epidemiology
June 15, 2016
I love books by Desowitz and this again is another book with interesting science facts told in a charming way.
July 23, 2019
An authoritative look at the politics of infectious disease
Epidemiologist Robert Desowitz gets a few things off his chest in this free-swinging frolic through the world of infectious disease with an emphasis on politics, economics and human stupidity. In particular he is not happy about the fact that Big Pharma doesn't find it cost effective to work on drugs that might save lives in Third World countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa, home of not only Ebola and AIDS, but perennial killers, malaria and sleeping sickness. He also doesn't care for the bad press that DDT has endured since "Saint Rachel" (p. 57) published her manifesto, averring that "Nothing has ever equaled DDT" for controlling "the spineless blood-suckers" (mosquito, fly, and tick vectors) that bring dengue, plague, typhus, malaria, sleeping sickness, etc. to our bodies, and that "no essential public measure [the use of DDT] has been so irrationally denied."
He makes a good case. It seems that in saving the ospreys and the eagles and other creatures of the wild we have allowed disease vectors to flourish resulting in countless millions of human lives lost. This surprising point of view, however, made me realize once again the false dilemma that we often put ourselves into, that of "them or us." At some point our rapacious desire to increase our numbers at the expense of our planet home must cease otherwise we will find ourselves alone with our mice and rats, our cows and pigs, our cockroaches and our sheep, our fields of soy and wheat and selected parasites, the rest of nature gone the way of the dodo. Do we need more humans or do we need to save the rainforests? My answer is that we must reduce our numbers and live in concert with nature. Desowitz does not consider this larger point of view in his book. I wish he had.
He does however realize that we need more doctors and that medical schools ought to let more people in. He notes that "Innovative teaching methods can now accommodate double the student intake," wryly adding that "This may force some of the doctors in the new, bigger pool to switch from BMWs to Buicks." (p. 56) He also wants the World Health Organization reformed, calling it "a too-politicized body, best at furnishing slogans." (p. 124) Additionally, he would like to see the big pharmaceutical companies rearrange their priorities. He laments how a drug called DFMO is being manufactured for use as a depilatory to rid women of "uglifying facial hair" (with glossy ads in Cosmopolitan, Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines) when it could better be used to fight sleeping sickness in Uganda and Sudan. (p. 146) One of his pet peeves is the way our patent laws work in respect to genetic material--part of a "patent or perish" syndrome. (See page 203.) He quotes then US secretary of commerce Ronald Brown to the effect that genetic material can be taken from you and patented for the enrichment of someone else and there is nothing you can do about it. (p. 200) Some people call this "biopiracy." (p. 193)
In the later chapters (which are among the most readable in the book) Desowitz considers the possibility that global warming will result in tropical diseases moving north. There's not only that possibility, but with the rise in the sea level and the flooding of rivers, temperate-zone sewers may back up just as they do in, e.g., Bangladesh, and we will have cholera right here in River City.
Desowitz, who is retired and therefore free to say what he thinks without fear of losing some grant or offending those who could torpedo a career, lets the chips fall where they may. Near the end of the book he recalls a Nigerian who supplemented his income by selling human waste. It seems that the Nigerian "pagan farmers...believed that the white man's protein-rich diet made his feces a superior fertilizer"(!) He ends the book with a not so facetious suggestion that maybe we ought "to exploit this bounteous natural gift" to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. (pp. 241-242)
This sort of candid, tell-it-like-it-is expression is the strength of this mostly readable book. Its weakness is that sometimes Desowitz loses awareness of his readership and gets too technical and too minuscule in his delineation of disease politics. He has a few axes to grind and sometimes stays too long at the wheel. Furthermore it is apparent that sometimes he is addressing other professionals and working out old disputes in a way that the general reader cannot fully appreciate.
Bottom line: Desowitz is authoritative and unbeholden to political correctness; he is passionate and writes with verve and a sometimes striking expression, and he is clearly an expert on the material covered.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
Epidemiologist Robert Desowitz gets a few things off his chest in this free-swinging frolic through the world of infectious disease with an emphasis on politics, economics and human stupidity. In particular he is not happy about the fact that Big Pharma doesn't find it cost effective to work on drugs that might save lives in Third World countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa, home of not only Ebola and AIDS, but perennial killers, malaria and sleeping sickness. He also doesn't care for the bad press that DDT has endured since "Saint Rachel" (p. 57) published her manifesto, averring that "Nothing has ever equaled DDT" for controlling "the spineless blood-suckers" (mosquito, fly, and tick vectors) that bring dengue, plague, typhus, malaria, sleeping sickness, etc. to our bodies, and that "no essential public measure [the use of DDT] has been so irrationally denied."
He makes a good case. It seems that in saving the ospreys and the eagles and other creatures of the wild we have allowed disease vectors to flourish resulting in countless millions of human lives lost. This surprising point of view, however, made me realize once again the false dilemma that we often put ourselves into, that of "them or us." At some point our rapacious desire to increase our numbers at the expense of our planet home must cease otherwise we will find ourselves alone with our mice and rats, our cows and pigs, our cockroaches and our sheep, our fields of soy and wheat and selected parasites, the rest of nature gone the way of the dodo. Do we need more humans or do we need to save the rainforests? My answer is that we must reduce our numbers and live in concert with nature. Desowitz does not consider this larger point of view in his book. I wish he had.
He does however realize that we need more doctors and that medical schools ought to let more people in. He notes that "Innovative teaching methods can now accommodate double the student intake," wryly adding that "This may force some of the doctors in the new, bigger pool to switch from BMWs to Buicks." (p. 56) He also wants the World Health Organization reformed, calling it "a too-politicized body, best at furnishing slogans." (p. 124) Additionally, he would like to see the big pharmaceutical companies rearrange their priorities. He laments how a drug called DFMO is being manufactured for use as a depilatory to rid women of "uglifying facial hair" (with glossy ads in Cosmopolitan, Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines) when it could better be used to fight sleeping sickness in Uganda and Sudan. (p. 146) One of his pet peeves is the way our patent laws work in respect to genetic material--part of a "patent or perish" syndrome. (See page 203.) He quotes then US secretary of commerce Ronald Brown to the effect that genetic material can be taken from you and patented for the enrichment of someone else and there is nothing you can do about it. (p. 200) Some people call this "biopiracy." (p. 193)
In the later chapters (which are among the most readable in the book) Desowitz considers the possibility that global warming will result in tropical diseases moving north. There's not only that possibility, but with the rise in the sea level and the flooding of rivers, temperate-zone sewers may back up just as they do in, e.g., Bangladesh, and we will have cholera right here in River City.
Desowitz, who is retired and therefore free to say what he thinks without fear of losing some grant or offending those who could torpedo a career, lets the chips fall where they may. Near the end of the book he recalls a Nigerian who supplemented his income by selling human waste. It seems that the Nigerian "pagan farmers...believed that the white man's protein-rich diet made his feces a superior fertilizer"(!) He ends the book with a not so facetious suggestion that maybe we ought "to exploit this bounteous natural gift" to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. (pp. 241-242)
This sort of candid, tell-it-like-it-is expression is the strength of this mostly readable book. Its weakness is that sometimes Desowitz loses awareness of his readership and gets too technical and too minuscule in his delineation of disease politics. He has a few axes to grind and sometimes stays too long at the wheel. Furthermore it is apparent that sometimes he is addressing other professionals and working out old disputes in a way that the general reader cannot fully appreciate.
Bottom line: Desowitz is authoritative and unbeholden to political correctness; he is passionate and writes with verve and a sometimes striking expression, and he is clearly an expert on the material covered.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
Read
April 15, 2024First it had been few years since reading this, but Robert passes on information in a way that understandable, but keeps the interest of someone such as I, with many hours of college biology, chemistry and medical training behind me. I just haven't had the time to buy and read the rest of his offerings; mandated text books took priority!
Robert goes though the incompetence of the federal government in tracing the bird flu and the connection with the human form during a East Coast flare-up; a female bird specialist from New York's Bird Sanctuary suggested a link, but the government 'expert' failed to follow up, until another person took his place and 'followed' up on her suggestion.
Comparison with known viruses at the Rocky Mountain Federal Lab showed nothing, but their 'failure' to test it against their sample of the actual virus it turned out to be from overseas: no one thought this virus had made it to America yet!
He also alludes to a "world health organization" as being more political than professional.
One chapter (#9, I believe) dealt with a European military, worried about ticks carrying a 'range' of infectious diseases, and came up with a solution from most people's kitchen!
I personally liked the 'range' of topics he covered in "Federal Bodysnatchers" rather than just hitting a couple of diseases...and I loved the way he ended the book with his outlook on the future of those diseases he persoanally researched during his professional career.
Robert goes though the incompetence of the federal government in tracing the bird flu and the connection with the human form during a East Coast flare-up; a female bird specialist from New York's Bird Sanctuary suggested a link, but the government 'expert' failed to follow up, until another person took his place and 'followed' up on her suggestion.
Comparison with known viruses at the Rocky Mountain Federal Lab showed nothing, but their 'failure' to test it against their sample of the actual virus it turned out to be from overseas: no one thought this virus had made it to America yet!
He also alludes to a "world health organization" as being more political than professional.
One chapter (#9, I believe) dealt with a European military, worried about ticks carrying a 'range' of infectious diseases, and came up with a solution from most people's kitchen!
I personally liked the 'range' of topics he covered in "Federal Bodysnatchers" rather than just hitting a couple of diseases...and I loved the way he ended the book with his outlook on the future of those diseases he persoanally researched during his professional career.
March 9, 2025
Got a little weedy aka technical at times, but a couple google searches set me straight for the majority of the book. Understandably, things have changed since the book was published, however, many things remain the same when it comes to preparing and dealing with tropical viruses and diseases. Overall, a fairly easy read for the non-scientist and I found Desowitz’ writing to be cynically and scientifically endearing.
December 14, 2017
I feel this book should be marketed as a selection of essays as the organization of the chapters I felt was lacking. Furthermore, it mentions aids in the synopsis and throughout the book but never goes into detail. Disorganized and filled with whining complaints I didn't think this book was that good at all.
July 1, 2020
Finally finished after a long break. Overall good, but not as enjoyable as Jewish Grandmother's. Desowsitz displays some of his social conscious and focus is usually given to the communities that science often overlooks.
March 19, 2011
Federal Bodysnatchers and the New Guinea Virus: Tales of People, Parasites, and Politics by Robert S. Desowitz was originally published in 2002. The title refers to a legal case involving the patenting of a virus based on genetic information obtained from the Hagahai people of New Guinea. What this book actually covers is ten different essays by epidemiologist Desowitz. Desowitz is informative, humorous, passionate, but always knowledgeable about his topic. Actually my one problem with his book is one he noted in the prologue, he didn't include any bibliography of references. I guess I personally would have liked to see more of his information footnoted or referenced. Although other fans of non-fiction virus books may likely enjoy it more than this score suggests, I'm rating it a 3.9 as some of the essays were more interesting, compelling reading than others.
http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
July 10, 2009
I heard the Desowitz New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People book was very good, so I had pretty high expectations for this one. Unfortunately, the first half of this book was spent extolling the virtues of DEET to control mosquitoes. There was probably only 1 interesting chapter. I would skip this book and grab the New Guinea book.
April 6, 2013
If you like epidemiology this is a great book. It reads like a fiction novel. Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews