THE STORY OF INTERFERON
The Ups and Downs in the Life of a Scientist
by K Cantell (Helsinki, Finland)
The Finnish doctor Kari Cantell is one of the scientists to whom the development of the drugs called interferons can be attributed. Interferons have achieved an important place in the treatment of cancer, viral infections and multiple sclerosis. In the 1960s Cantell and his coworkers developed a method for the preparation of interferon in white blood cells. During those years, most of the global production of interferon took place in Finland and the vast majority of the clinical studies in the world employed Finnish interferon.
The memoirs of Cantell record interferon's long road from the laboratory to the pharmacy shelf. The journey took more than three decades and involved moments of triumph as well as desperation in the lives of many scientists.
The book will give the reader a glimpse of the world of science; how research is carried out in the laboratory and the clinic; how the mind of the scientist operates and how he experiences success and failure; how warm friendships and bitter conflicts develop between investigators; how the involvement of money and politics harms as well as helps research.
The Interferon Story is a richly rewarding book written for ordinary people without a basic knowledge of biology or medicine. It can be read as a thriller describing the struggle of scientists against the most feared diseases of mankind.
Contents:
- The Way Through an Impasse
- Chance
- Into the World of Laboratory
Life
- I Become Involved with Mumps Virus
- Interferon Comes on the Scene
- My Thesis — and Other Matters!
- Should I Become a Scientist?
- To the New World
- An Embarrassing Episode
- The Henles' Laboratory in Philadephia
- My Jewish Friend, Kurt
- Working with Kurt
- Great and Small Prophets
- Back Home Again
- Chick Interferon
- Human Interferon
- Tapani Vainio
- Hans and Gyurka
- How Much Interferon Can Be Prepared in Human White Cells?
- Harri Nevanlinna
- The Shadow of Maurice Hilleman
- The Yardstick
- and other papers
Readership: Scientists in various fields of biological sciences and medicine
and laymen.
"... It is likely to be useful to future historians of science as a primary source. Its factual content is, as far as I can tell, entirely accurate."
"Cantell's reminiscences, told in brief episodic chapters, are a fascinating story and provide many telling and critical insights into the nature of medical research. The book makes no technical demands on the reader and could be read easily by non-specialists and sixth-formers. The story illustrates, incidentally, how a small, peripherally placed country like Finland has been able to make a major contribution to medicine in the second half of the 20th century."
"... this book will be an authentic source of the history of interferon research as told by a major participant. But in the final analysis, it is the personal diary of a gentle scientist who cared about his friends and family and who did science for the old-fashioned reasons: to find the truth and to help his fellow men."
| The Quarterly Review of Biology |
| 252pp |
Pub. date: May 1998 |
