THE PHILADELPHIA CHROMOSOME: A GENETIC MYSTERY, A LETHAL CANCER, AND THE IMPROBABLE INVENTION OF A LIFESAVING TREATMENT
Book ID/图书代码： 00342513B62723
English Summary/英文概要： One of Publishers Weekly’s Top Ten Spring 2013 Science Books
Philadelphia, 1959: A scientist scrutinizing a single human cell under a microscope detects a missing piece of DNA. That scientist, David Hungerford, had no way of knowing that he had stumbled upon the starting point of modern cancer research—the Philadelphia chromosome. This book charts not only that landmark discovery, but also—for the first time, all in one place—the full sequence of scientific and medical discoveries that brought about the first-ever successful treatment of a lethal cancer at the genetic level.
The significance of this mutant chromosome would take more than three decades to unravel; in 1990, it was recognized as the sole cause of a deadly blood cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, or CML. This dramatic discovery launched a race involving doctors and researchers around the world, who recognized that in principle it might be possible to target CML at its genetic source.
Science journalist Jessica Wapner brings extensive original reporting to this book, including interviews with more than thirty-five people with a direct role in this story. Wapner reconstructs more than forty years of crucial breakthroughs, clearly explains the science behind them, and pays tribute to the dozens of researchers, doctors, and patients whose curiosity and determination restored the promise of a future to the more than 70,000 people worldwide who are diagnosed with CML each year. Chief among them is researcher and oncologist Dr. Brian Druker, whose dedication to his patients fueled his quest to do everything within his power to save them.
The Philadelphia Chromosome helps us to fully understand and appreciate just how pathbreaking, hard-won, and consequential are the achievements it recounts—and to understand the principles behind much of today’s most important cancer research, as doctors and scientists race to uncover and treat the genetic roots of a wide range of cancers.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 1959年，费城,:一个科学家在显微镜下检测人类细胞时，无意间发现了一节遗漏的人类遗传基因染色体(DNA)。这位科学家的就是戴维•汉格福特博士，那时他还不知道自己的偶然发现——“费城”染色体, 正是现代癌症研究的起点。解开这个具有里程碑意义的发现花去了全世界各地医生和研究人员超过三十年的时间。1990年,“费城”染色体被认为是一种致命的血液癌症的唯一原因,慢性粒细胞白血病、慢性骨髓白血病或称慢性粒细胞白血病。对于癌症研究也就此改写。
科学记者杰西卡•韦普纳借用大量的原始数据报告，包括和许多研究人员，医生和直接参与此项研究的患者的多次采访，重述了四十多年前这个激动人心重要突破,清楚地解释了这其中的科学, 并对这一人类重大科学突破表示敬意。由于他们的好奇心和决心最终引发了一场史无前例的拯救生命的治疗。
“费城”染色体全程记录下了这些研究是如何改变全球每年超过7万人被诊断为慢性白血病的命运的故事。这项发现是人类对抗癌症的一次罕有胜利，也是人类对未来科学的一个研究蓝本,也可作为医生和科学家相继去发现和治疗各种癌症的遗传基础。(Sandy)
Awards/获奖情况：“[T]he way Wapner repeatedly adds up preceding steps to build to the scientific breakthrough is masterful, making for compulsive, surprisingly emotional reading."
—The Scientist
“In this meticulously detailed chronicle, science writer Wapner recaps the remarkable development of Gleevec, a cutting-edge drug capable of beating the typically fatal cancer of white blood cells known as chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). . . .Her gracefully written history skillfully combines both the science and humanity of this fascinating search for a cure for CML.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Wapner weaves together the basic and applied science with the stories of the dedicated researchers, the broader supporting superstructure of modern medicine and the process of bringing pharmaceuticals to market. . . . An absorbing, complex medical detective story.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The story of the Philadelphia chromosome is truly the story of modern cancer biology—from the very earliest description of a chromosomal abnormality in cancer cells to the development of a targeted medicine against a formerly lethal type of leukemia. Jessica Wapner stitches the whole story together with tenacity, diligence (and humor). This is a wonderful, readable, and highly informative book.”
—Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies
“Jessica Wapner shows us in The Philadelphia Chromosome how the past and the future combine to dramatically change the course of a disease. This beautifully written book is a blueprint for broader healthcare change. A pivotal book.”
—David B. Agus, MD, Professor of Medicine and Engineering, University of Southern California, and author of The End of Illness
“Jessica Wapner has done two kinds of hard work gracefully: the hard work of understanding cancer genetics and the hard work of rendering that subject into human narrative, lucid explanation, and metaphor. The Philadelphia Chromosome is not just an urgently useful book. It’s also an elegant one, put together like a Swiss watch.”
—David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
“The Philadelphia Chromosome clearly explains how a half-century’s worth of research transformed a viciously lethal form of cancer into a chronic, treatable condition. Jessica Wapner’s meticulously researched book is both a real-life medical thriller and an engaging narrative about the history of modern cancer research.”
—Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus: The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy
About the Author/作者介绍： 杰西卡•韦普纳是一位主要关注医疗和药品自由科学作家。她的文章曾在许多，诸如《科学美国人》,《纽约时报》,等刊物上发表。她对于癌症研究和治疗的文章也同时在病友杂志《CR & Cure》上发表, 杰西卡经常在医学刊物《肿瘤学商业评论》上撰稿。目前她和家人住在纽约。
Format:照片
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
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