Product Description

How to avoid disease, how to breed successfully, and how to live to a reasonable age, are questions that have perplexed mankind throughout history. This book explores our progress in understanding these challenges, and the risks and rewards of our attempts to find solutions. From as early as our existence in the womb, nutrition and exposure to microbes and chemicals have consequences that are etched into our genomes and cells. This has a crucial impact on development in utero and in childhood, and later for the way we age, respond to infection, or the liklihood of developing chronic diseases, including cancer. A range of issues are covered, from the powerful influence of infectious disease on human society to the burden of our genetic legacy and the lottery of procreation. The author discusses how prospects for human life continually improve as biomedicine addresses these problems and debates the ethical checkpoints encountered.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2192609 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 364 pages

Review
"Sargent's tale is rooted in science, but he sees the big picture as well. The story is epic but the language is a marvel of clarity. Knowledge empowers, and if this book were on prescription, it might improve the national health." Tim Radford, The Guardian

"Sargent has done a valuable service to those general readers--and not a few doctors--who wish to learn about the directions of current medical research. While 'biomedicine' may be only part of the story of disease and the human condition, those who want to know what the medical world is up to have got to start somewhere; Sargent's tip of the iceberg is a better place than most." The Lancet, Daivd Weatherall

"The journey is fascinating and written with a general audience in mind." New Scientist

"Biomedicine and the Human Condition is written in a compelling and lucid style that renders it accessible to the layperson, but it should become a valuable work of reference for many who are engaged professionally in medicine." Biochemist, Stephen Pollock

"Michael G. Sargent has written a terrific book for the lay reader who wants to discover how biomedicine has confronted the human challenges of maintaining good health."
Abstract

About the Author
Michael G. Sargent is a research scientist in developmental biology at the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill, London.