Review by Choice Review
Modern medical biotechnology springs from attempts to find the magic bullets for diagnosing and treating disease. One of the earliest potential miracle diagnostic and therapeutic technologies was monoclonal antibodies. The history of this technology, like that of many medical discoveries, is awash with failures as well as successes--and it was equally hailed and condemned by the bioethics and medical communities. This not a technical tome about monoclonal antibodies. Rather, Marks (history of medicine, King's College London and Cambridge Univ., UK) presents monoclonal antibodies as a model of modern medical discovery using innovative molecular biology techniques. She begins with a brief yet comprehensive synopsis of how the development of monoclonal antibodies in 1976 redirected the focus for innovations in medical diagnosis and therapy. In the subsequent chapters she describes the history of monoclonal antibodies step by step, providing engaging accounts of the researchers and corporations that exploited the benefits of monoclonal antibodies. Marks avoids, as much as possible, technical jargon, and she uses common terms to explain the technical material. The book culminates with two chapters describing the most successful monoclonal antibody applications and the future directions in monoclonal antibody research. Marks includes references to ample primary sources. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates, including two-year programs, through practitioners; general readers. --Brian R. Shmaefsky, Lone Star College - Kingwood
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
