Showing results for "The Book of Commentary" in Science & Engineering

The cells were supposed to die. Instead, they changed everything. When Henrietta Lacks walked into Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951 complaining of vaginal bleeding, neither she nor her doctors could have imagined the medical revolution about to unfold. The cervical cancer that would claim her life at age 31 harbored an extraordinary secret: her cells could live forever. Without her knowledge or consent, those cells would reshape modern medicine. Dubbed "HeLa" cells, Henrietta's tissue became the cornerstone of countless medical breakthroughs.

Human history hinges on the battle to confront our most dangerous enemies—the half-dozen diseases responsible for killing almost all of mankind. The story of our medical triumphs reveals an inspiring tapestry of human achievement, but the journey was far from smooth. It is a tale replete with dramatic episodes as spellbinding as any blockbuster Hollywood movie. In The Masters of Medicine, Dr. Andrew Lam, an award-winning author and retinal surgeon, distills the long arc of medical progress down to the crucial moments that were responsible for the world's greatest medical miracles.