Essence and symbol of life– feared, revered, mythologized, and utilized in magic and medicine from earliest times– human blood is now the center of a huge, deceptive, and typically hazardous worldwide commerce. It is a commerce whose effect upon mankind rivals that of any other service– countless lives have been conserved by blood and its various derivatives, and tens of countless lives have actually been lost. Douglas Starr informs how this happened, in a sweeping history that ranges through the centuries. With the dawn of science, blood came to be viewed as an element of human anatomy, capable of being separated, studied, utilized. Starr explains the first documented transfusion: In the seventeenth century, one of Louis XIV’s court physicians transfers the blood of a calf into a madman to “treat” him. At the turn of the twentieth century a young scientist in Vienna identifies the basic blood groups, taking the initial step towards effective transfusion. Then a New York medical professional discovers a method to stop blood from clotting, thereby making all transfusion possible. In the 1930 s, a Russian physician, in grisly improvisation, effectively utilizes cadaver blood to help living patients– and recognizes that blood can be stored. The very first blood bank is soon running in Chicago. Throughout World War II, researchers, driven by battlefield needs, break down blood into functional parts that are more easily kept and transported. This “fractionation” process– achieved by a Harvard group– produces a host of pharmaceuticals, setting the stage for the global market to come. Plasma, exactly due to the fact that it can be made into lasting drugs, is shipped and traded for profit; today it is a $5 billion organization. The author recounts the tragic spread of HELP through the distribution of polluted blood items, and describes why and how associated scandals have actually appeared worldwide. He looks at the most current efforts to make synthetic blood. Douglas Starr has actually written a revolutionary book that tackles a subject of universal and immediate significance and explores the hazards and assures that lie ahead.
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