Insulin - The Crooked Timber: A History from Thick Brown Muck to Wall Street Gold

by Kersten T. Hall Narrated by Mike Cooper

Overview

Before the discovery of insulin, a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. One hundred years after a milestone medical discovery, Insulin - The Crooked Timber tells the story of how insulin was transformed from what one clinician called "thick brown muck" into the very first drug
to be produced using genetic engineering, one which would earn the founders of the US biotech company Genentech a small fortune.



Yet when Canadian doctor Frederick Banting was told in 1923 that he had won the Nobel Prize for this life-saving discovery, he was furious. For the prize had not been awarded to him alone-but jointly with a man whom he felt had no right to this honor.



Taking the listener on a fascinating journey, starting with the discovery of insulin in the 1920s through to the present day, Insulin - The Crooked Timber reveals a story of monstrous egos, toxic career rivalries, and a few unsung heroes such as two little known scientists whose work on wool fibers, carried out in a fume-filled former stable, not only proved to be crucial in unravelling the puzzle of insulin but ushered in a revolution in biology.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"... comprehensive account of the modern medical history of the hormone..." — Jerome Groopman, New York Review of Books

"The lengthy bibliography and endnotes are a testament to the extensive research that has been carried out to produce this fascinating account." — Arpan K. Banerjee, Hektoen International

"The story of insulin over the past 100 years, as the historian of science (and former molecular biologist) Kersten Hall shows in this dense and fascinating book, is also a microcosm of developments in science more widely, and of changes in the politics and economics of healthcare. [...] The pleasures of this book lie mainly in the storytelling detail and the gossipy richness of the lives, friendships and feuds glimpsed in the hubbub of decades pursuing the improvement of human health." — Steven Poole, Daily Telegraph

"It is a good read and scholarly account." — Arpan Banerjee , Hektoen International Journal

"Insulin-the Crooked Timber is essential reading for anyone concerned with the history of insulin." — Social History of Alcohol and Drugs.

"Hall's The Crooked Timber expertly combines careful attention to the science with thoughtful consideration of its historical and philosophical dimensions." — Neelanjana Ray, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences

"I expected it to be interesting - or at least the part dealing with Dick [my father] and Archer's work. What I didn't expect was that it would be a 'page turner' from start to finish!" — Mr Patrick Synge, Son of Nobel laureate Richard Synge (Chemistry 1952)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178505786
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	03/29/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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