Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease
    Unavailable
    The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease
    Unavailable
    The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease
    Audiobook19 hours

    The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease

    Written by Meredith Wadman

    Narrated by Nancy Linari

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The epic and controversial story of a major breakthrough in cell biology that led to the conquest of rubella and other devastating diseases.

    Until the late 1960s, tens of thousands of American children suffered crippling birth defects if their mothers had been exposed to rubella, popularly known as German measles, while pregnant; there was no vaccine and little understanding of how the disease devastated fetuses. In June 1962, a young biologist in Philadelphia, using tissue extracted from an aborted fetus from Sweden, produced safe, clean cells that allowed the creation of vaccines against rubella and other common childhood diseases. Two years later, in the midst of a devastating German measles epidemic, his colleague developed the vaccine that would one day wipe out homegrown rubella. The rubella vaccine and others made with those fetal cells have protected more than 150 million people in the United States, the vast majority of them preschoolers. The new cells and the method of making them also led to vaccines that have protected billions of people around the world from polio, rabies, chicken pox, measles, hepatitis A, shingles and adenovirus.

    Meredith Wadman's masterful account recovers not only the science of this urgent race, but also the political roadblocks that nearly stopped the scientists. She describes the terrible dilemmas of pregnant women exposed to German measles and recounts testing on infants, prisoners, orphans, and the intellectually disabled, which was common in the era. These events take place at the dawn of the battle over using human fetal tissue in research, during the arrival of big commerce in campus labs, and as huge changes take place in the laws and practices governing who "owns" research cells and the profits made from biological inventions. It is also the story of yet one more unrecognized woman whose cells have been used to save countless lives.

    With another frightening virus imperiling pregnant women on the rise today, no medical story could have more human drama, impact, or urgency today than The Vaccine Race.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 7, 2017
    ISBN9781524751982
    Unavailable
    The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease

    Related to The Vaccine Race

    Related audiobooks

    Science & Mathematics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Miracle CURES

      Dec 23, 2020

      Vaccines are back in the news, as a bridge that will hopefully lead us safely over the troubled waters of the Covid-19 pandemic. More than a hundred Covid-19 vaccines are in development worldwide, and three may be ready for use in millions of people

      8 min read

    • Article

      A Silver Lining for Science

      Oct 5, 2021

      A Silver Lining for Science
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Long Shot

      Jul 26, 2020

      A Long Shot
      13 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: When We Have A Coronavirus Vaccine, Will We Want To Use It?

      May 24, 2020

      As the development of a coronavirus vaccine intensifies with the fury of the 1960s race to the moon, a question haunts us Americans: If and when scientists come up with a vaccine, will we want to get it? I think I would. But what about everyone else?

      3 min read

    Reviews for The Vaccine Race

    4/5

    20 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Summary: In this fantastic example of journalistic research, Wadman wrote about the crippling effects of various diseases, especially of birth defects. Diseases covered included rubella, polio, rabies, chicken pox, measles and hepatitis A. She then described the scientific efforts put forth to find vaccines for these diseases, as well as political roadblocks and legal/moral failings of some of the scientists.My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It was well-researched and interesting. I didn’t realize what kinds of political roadblocks were present in the development of vaccines. She mostly avoided the topic of vaccine deniers and the misconception that vaccines cause autism. That’s probably for the best, because the book was already rather long. However, I do feel that the story is a tiny bit incomplete without covering it a little bit. Despite this omission, I loved this book and understand why it was on the Wellcome Book Prize shortlist.
    • 5/5
      This book is as enjoyable as it is informative. In fact it is an excellent example of popular science writing at its best. Meridith Wadman keeps the reader engaged by following the story of Leonard Hayflick and his WI-58 human cell culture. In the process you learn so much. The chapter describing the recent discoveries on cell ageing and the basis of the Hayflick limit is a masterclass in providing an explanation of ground breaking science to the general reader. There is so much is this book e.g. many very interesting characters, ethical issues discussed frankly. But ultimately this book is one great story that is well told and worth reading. I am grateful to the writer for the opportunity of being able read such an outstanding book.
    • 3/5
      Around 60 years ago it was still possible for pregnant mothers exposed to German Measles or rubella, to have children that were born with crippling birth defects. No one really knew how the virus affected the unborn child, nor did they know the best way to fight against this disease. It was understood how you could make a vaccine to combat the virus that caused this illness and others like chicken pox, rabies, and polio, but early attempts with animal cell-based vaccines caused as many problems as the illness they were trying to cure.

      In 1962, a young biologist, Leonard Hayflick, in Philadelphia extracted cells from an aborted foetus that managed to turn the tide. These clean cells allowed scientist to create vaccines that were safe for almost everyone to use, and it carried the bland description of WI-38. This tiny collection of cells would be expanded time after time to be used to protect over 150 million children in America. Some of the cells he extracted and the methods he developed to get safe vaccines have saved billions of lives around the world.

      But it almost didn't happen. Given the source of the cells, there were countless political hurdles to overcome as well as complaints from pro-life groups who were incandescent with rage about it, but the scientist persevered and the vaccines got made and sent out in the world. Wadman has pieced together this story of how the cells were created, how the testing that was done on the uninformed and how that couldn't happen these days. The distribution of these medicines helped create some of the worlds largest companies as the profits poured in. Whilst getting the detail right is important, the narrative that is so crucial in these books got a little lost in amongst all the technical explanations at times. It is a very important story that Wadman is telling though, especially given that fact that we may well be on the dawn of a new era in medicine with the rise of immunity against antibiotics. The one flaw though is that the book is very American centric with little UK and European interest, which is a shame as I feel that this would have a broader audience otherwise.
    • 3/5
      After polio, there was still a lot to be done in producing vaccines and also finding new vaccines, for example for rubella, which was taking a huge toll into the 60s. Wadman recounts the rise of human-derived vaccines made in cells whose origin could be traced to an aborted human fetus, which was better than the alternatives: monkey cells because of monkey diseases, and better than adult human cells because they were less likely to carry viruses or cancers. Still, it took a long time for the FDA to accept the superiority of such vaccines, leading a lot of people to be exposed to monkey diseases (think Ebola and Zika for the worst case scenario). And the derivation of the cells from one abortion, long ago, still leads many to condemn these vaccines, but right now there aren’t alternatives that are nearly as effective.