The vaccine race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease
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Description
"The epic and controversial story of a major breakthrough in cell biology that led to the creation of some of the world's most important vaccines. Until the late 1960s, tens of thousands of American children suffered crippling birth defects if their mothers had been exposed to rubella, popularly known as German measles, while pregnant; there was no vaccine and little understanding of how the disease devastated fetuses. In June 1962, a young biologist in Philadelphia, using tissue extracted from an aborted fetus from Sweden, produced safe, clean cells that allowed the creation of vaccines against rubella and other common childhood diseases. Two years later, in the midst of a devastating German measles epidemic, his colleague developed the vaccine that would one day wipe out homegrown rubella. The rubella vaccine and others made with those fetal cells have protected more than 150 million people in the United States, the vast majority of them preschoolers. The new cells and the method of making them also led to vaccines that have protected billions of people around the world from polio, rabies, chicken pox, measles, hepatitis A, shingles and adenovirus. Meredith Wadman's masterful account recovers not only the science of this urgent race, but also the political roadblocks that nearly stopped the scientists. She describes the terrible dilemmas of pregnant women exposed to German measles and recounts testing on infants, prisoners, orphans, and the intellectually disabled, which was common in the era. These events take place at the dawn of the battle over using human fetal tissue in research, during the arrival of big commerce in campus labs, and as huge changes take place in the laws and practices governing who "owns" research cells and the profits made from biological inventions. It is also the story of yet one more unrecognized woman whose cells have been used to save countless lives. With another frightening virus imperiling pregnant women on the rise today, no medical story could have more human drama, impact, or urgency today than The Vaccine Race"--Provided by publisher.
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Subjects
Subjects
History
Human experimentation in medicine
Human experimentation in medicine -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Human experimentation in medicine -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Medical
MMR vaccine
MMR vaccine -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Nonfiction
Political aspects
Research
Rubella
Rubella -- Vaccination -- History -- 20th century
Rubella vaccines
Rubella vaccines -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Rubella vaccines -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Science
Vaccination
Human experimentation in medicine
Human experimentation in medicine -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Human experimentation in medicine -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Medical
MMR vaccine
MMR vaccine -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Nonfiction
Political aspects
Research
Rubella
Rubella -- Vaccination -- History -- 20th century
Rubella vaccines
Rubella vaccines -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Rubella vaccines -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Science
Vaccination
More Details
ISBN:
9780525427537
9781524751999
9780698177789
9781524751999
9780698177789
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | d9f52d17-dd40-e782-d40d-cc6755c666c4 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | vaccine race science politics and the human costs of defeating disease |
Grouping Author | meredith wadman |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2022-05-17 02:08:33AM |
Last Indexed | 2022-05-17 02:43:37AM |
Novelist Primary ISBN | 9780525427537 |
Solr Details
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accelerated_reader_reading_level | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author | Wadman, Meredith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author_display | Wadman, Meredith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
available_at_catalog | Central | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
detailed_location_catalog | Central | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
display_description | "The epic and controversial story of a major breakthrough in cell biology that led to the creation of some of the world's most important vaccines. Until the late 1960s, tens of thousands of American children suffered crippling birth defects if their mothers had been exposed to rubella, popularly known as German measles, while pregnant; there was no vaccine and little understanding of how the disease devastated fetuses. In June 1962, a young biologist in Philadelphia, using tissue extracted from an aborted fetus from Sweden, produced safe, clean cells that allowed the creation of vaccines against rubella and other common childhood diseases. Two years later, in the midst of a devastating German measles epidemic, his colleague developed the vaccine that would one day wipe out homegrown rubella. The rubella vaccine and others made with those fetal cells have protected more than 150 million people in the United States, the vast majority of them preschoolers. The new cells and the method of making them also led to vaccines that have protected billions of people around the world from polio, rabies, chicken pox, measles, hepatitis A, shingles and adenovirus. Meredith Wadman's masterful account recovers not only the science of this urgent race, but also the political roadblocks that nearly stopped the scientists. She describes the terrible dilemmas of pregnant women exposed to German measles and recounts testing on infants, prisoners, orphans, and the intellectually disabled, which was common in the era. These events take place at the dawn of the battle over using human fetal tissue in research, during the arrival of big commerce in campus labs, and as huge changes take place in the laws and practices governing who "owns" research cells and the profits made from biological inventions. It is also the story of yet one more unrecognized woman whose cells have been used to save countless lives. With another frightening virus imperiling pregnant women on the rise today, no medical story could have more human drama, impact, or urgency today than The Vaccine Race"--Provided by publisher. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
format_catalog | Book eAudiobook eBook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
format_category_catalog | Audio Books Books eBook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
id | d9f52d17-dd40-e782-d40d-cc6755c666c4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
isbn | 9780525427537 9780698177789 9781524751999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
item_details
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itype_catalog | Adult Book Non-Fiction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
last_indexed | 2022-05-17T09:43:37.734Z | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
lexile_score | -1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form | Non Fiction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form_full | Non Fiction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
local_callnumber_catalog | 614.523 W123 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
owning_library_catalog | Sacramento Public Library | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
owning_location_catalog | Central | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
primary_isbn | 9780525427537 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
publishDate | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
publisher | Penguin Publishing Group Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
record_details
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recordtype | grouped_work | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
scoping_details_catalog
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subject_facet | Human experimentation in medicine -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century Human experimentation in medicine -- United States -- History -- 20th century MMR vaccine -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century Rubella -- Vaccination -- History -- 20th century Rubella vaccines -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century Rubella vaccines -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_display | The vaccine race : science, politics, and the human costs of defeating disease | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_full | The Vaccine Race Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease The vaccine race : science, politics, and the human costs of defeating disease / Meredith Wadman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_short | The vaccine race | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_sub | Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
topic_facet | History Human experimentation in medicine MMR vaccine Medical Nonfiction Political aspects Research Rubella Rubella vaccines Science Vaccination |