A Commotion in the Blood: Life, Death, and the Immune System
Beginning with the “occasional miracles” of a mysterious turn-of-the-century cancer vaccine called Coley’s toxins, Stephen S. Hall traces the story of how doctors have learned to harness the immune system and its “commotions” to develop a wide array of cutting-edge therapies. Moving deftly between laboratory and bedside, Hall’s absorbing narrative navigates the politics of discovery and elucidates the dazzling complexities of the microscope slide, tracking the curiously potent cells and molecules at the heart of the immune response. From the author of “the best book written about the new age of biology” (Nobel laureate Philip Sharp), who “succeeds marvelously in making science accessible to the general reader,” (New York Times), this fast-paced account of medicine in the making is part of the Sloan Foundation Technology Book series. “To anyone who writes about science or medicine … the word breakthrough has a kind of transcendent power.” It is to Stephen Hall’s credit that he avoid… More >>
A Commotion in the Blood: Life, Death, and the Immune System
Stephen Hall does a marvelous job of giving an entertaining and understandable history of discoveries regarding the immune system and its role in cancer. Going well beyond the science, he introduces the men and women who forged through ridicule and adversity in a way that makes you know them as real people. I love this book! Hall is a great wordsmith. Look up Arthur Schopenhauer, you’ll see his axioms of ridicule, adversity, and acceptance in the history presented. If you have cancer buy this book! It may change your life.
Richard R. Mason MS, DO, NMD
This is an engaging read! An excellent introduction for the reader curious about the history of cancer biology/immunology especially from the standpoint of clinical therapies. It also provides a glimpse of the inside workings of research institutes and scientific collaborations. The only reservation I have is that the prose tends to the purple but that is not too great a distraction from the skillful storytelling. Read it!
Stephen S. Hall’s A Commotion in the Blood: Life, Death, and The Immune System focuses on the development of immunotheraphy, particularly as the immune system has been used to treat cancer. Although ostensibly a dense, esoteric subject, Hall makes this all a great read. Science books for non-specialist readers carry an unavoidable tension – does the author focus primarily on the personalities involved, or the science. In my experience, a solely biographical approach leaves the science too much a “black box”, amazing but inexplicable to the reader. Focus only on the science leaves the text unavoidably dense and lacking in “human” interest. Hall handles this tension perfectly by writing a series of mini-biographies of the leaders in the field, while leaving ample space to describe the science itself. By so doing, the key scientists become real people, and their quests tales of suspense, with life and death consequences. Hall manages ably to make the medicine accessible to the general reader, and has a fine gift for avoiding jargon or specialists’ language.
It’s a shame this great book is out of print.
It’s not easy going for the layperson although it is certainly more accessible than a great deal of medical information. But it IS fascinating.
Early strategies of dealing with cancer by manipulating the immune system which were discovered and championed by Dr. Coley (with surprising success since even he wasn’t sure exactly how they worked) were abandoned and forgotten when the new “radiation” model found more powerful supporters in the medical community, like Dr. Coley’s boss, Dr. Ewing.
Years later we see a terrific toll in human suffering exacted by radiation and chemotherapy. Current stem cell research and other immunological researches all “stem” from Coley’s early experiments. Hall writes about the scientists, operating alone or in teams, who have made huge strides in the world of immune system research and therapy protocols, many of which the average person has never heard about.
I learned an enormous amount about how the body works and about how the immune system develops. Yes, this information is very detailed and not always easy to grasp, but Hall does a terrific job in trying to make it understandable to the non-medical reader. So many times we laypeople are flummoxed by jargon.
Hall details what scientists have been doing in the world of immune research. Some familiar names pop up like Dr. Gallo and others prominent in AIDS research. And Hall does a great job in writing about the personalities, the conflicts and the politics of the medical world–it’s not all science, which is daunting enough to us!
I can’t speak highly enough of this book. I really know a lot more about how the body works after reading it and I’m encouraged for the future, if only the public will get behind supporting these brilliant and innovative thinkers.
I had cancer which is one of the things that interested me in this book. As challenging as the book is, I could NOT put it down. It makes for interesting speculation about how our world would have developed if cancer protocols had gone in a different direction.
This book was used in an immunology class I took and it was a great asset to the information presented in the class. It is easy reading and full of interesting biographical tid-bits of the people that forwarded the area of immunology. The only draw back is if you are the kind of learner that needs diagrams and textbook-like explanations you won’t find them in this text. It is set in a novel like format.