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

Fantastic account of how vaccines are developed. Not a comprehensive account of how all vaccines were developed rather it focuses on certain vaccines with a very detailed account of how cell lines were developed. Delves into what goes on behind the scenes and deals effectively with the politics of vaccine development and bioengineering.

Excellent

The Vaccine Race is one of the most compelling books I've read in years. It is a book that delves deeply into the complex and troubling history of vaccine development in the United States, but it is more than just a science history. It also is a fascinating study of how some of the nation's brightest scientists, proving both altruistic and flawed, competed to find the next vaccine against ravaging diseases of the time. It is full of juicy details and thoughtful insights about the men and women who toiled away in laboratories to make sure kids could be protected and live long, healthful lives. The sections about Len Hayflick were especially intriguing to me, as they painted a portrait of a man fighting a Don Quixote-like battle to discover the hidden mysteries of the WI-38 cells. He is a flawed hero who owes his successes and failures to his own erratic decisions, and as a reader, I felt drawn into the web of his story and choices. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves absorbing writing and great storytelling.

An engaging and scientifically sound look the story of vaccine's. Highly recommend it, especially to any parents who are wondering if the internet is right (it probably isn't).

The Vaccine Race gets five stars because it's a handicap race --- ie given that it's a book about boring science, it's at least four stars, so it gets five stars from me. It's about Leonard Hayflick and his cultured animal cells. See? Doesn't that leave you cold? It's so arcane and esoteric, you never heard of him, and have only a hazy idea what's up with "cultured animal cells", although since that book came out about Henrietta Lacks and her HeLa cells, we now have quite a few people who have more than a hazy idea of what that's all about, which is good. I'm from Philadelphia and went to Penn and even knew a little bit about the Wistar INstitute at 36th and Pine, so I'm a good judge of whether Ms Wadman did a good job here of giving the flavor of the times and the scientific backdrop for what these guys were doing. She did a fine job of reporting, and it's well written and pretty interesting. I hope a lot of people read The Vaccine Race because one way or another you'll all get to know a lot more about vaccines like MMR ; and vaccines in general; all of which is important. Hell, it's CRUCIAL! Everybody should have some idea of the PROCESS involved. Read it.

Amazing research!! Well worth the read.