Microbe Hunters - Then and Now

by Michael B.A. Oldstone

From the beginning of recorded time until the last fifty years, many diseases whose cause proved to be viral continuously produced suffering in the form of acute and chronic diseases and death. By the onset of the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, a biomedical and economic revolution occurred during which many of these epidemics came under control through the administration of vaccines. Microbe Huntersthen and now provides an overview of discoveries in animal and plant viruses, bacteria, parasites, and other issues, including prion diseases and mucosal immunity. Moreover, it points to the direction of further research, as exemplified by Kilbourne's "The somewhat untidy packages of RNA that we call influenza viruses may have been hunted down, but they dissemble even as we study them. Today's hunters find that the chase is still on as they pursue the protean proteins of an ephemeral quarry," and by Weller's "It is clear that the age of discovery of new viruses of pediatric importance persists as it did half a century ago. What is different is the vast spectrum of molecular tools available to the modern microbe hunter."

Genres: Medicine

456 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Born in New York, NY; married; children: three. Education: University of Alabama, A.S., 1954; University of Maryland, M.D., 1961; advanced study at Johns Hopkins McCullom Pratt Institute of Biochemistry. Hobbies and other interests: Bird watching, fly fishing, body surfing, reading.

MEMBER:
American Association of Physicians, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Scandinavian Society of Immunology (elected).

AWARDS, HONORS:
Burroughs Wellcome Professorship Award, Medical Research Council; American Academy of Microbiology fellow; Cotzias Award, for contributions in research, 1986; Abraham Flexner Award, for contributions in biomedical research, 1988; Rous-Whipple Award, for contributions in experimental pathology, 1993; Biomedical Science Award, Karolinska Institute, for contributions in virus/autoimmune diseases, 1994; J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine, for contributions in virus-host interactions and viral pathogenesis, 1997; R.E. Dyer Lectureship and Directors Award, National Institutes of Health, for contributions in viral pathogenesis, 2000; Pioneer in NeuroVirology Award, International Society for NeuroVirology, 2003; elected to Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences.

Reviews

[Elsie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book as light reading. It is way over my head, although I did learn from it. It may serve as an introductory textbook into microbe pathologies. It was work to get through it.