A Contagious Cause - The American Hunt for Cancer Viruses and the Rise of Molecular Medicine (Broché)

Is cancer a contagious disease ? In the late nineteenth century this idea, and attending efforts to identify a cancer "germ", inspired fear and ignited controversy. Yet speculation that cancer might be contagious also contained a kernel of hope that the strategies used against infectious diseases, especially vaccination, might be able to subdue this dread disease. Today, nearly one in six cancers are thought to have an infectious cause, but the path to that understanding was twisted and turbulent.
A Contagious Cause is the first book to trace the century-long hunt for a human cancer virus in America, an effort whose scale exceeded that of the Human Genome Project. The government's campaign harnessed experts from the worlds of molecular biology, public health, and military planning in the name of translating laboratory discoveries into useful medical therapies. However, its ambitious reach into biomedical research sparked fierce conflict.
Many biologists considered a cancer cure by vaccine or any other means unrealistic, if not dangerous, and condemned the project as a menace to scientific inquiry. Although the American hunt was ultimately fruitless, this effort nonetheless profoundly advanced our understanding of life at its most fundamental levels. A Contagious Cause links laboratory and legislature as has rarely been done before, creating a new chapter in the histories of science and American politics.