Oncogenes, Aneuploidy and AIDS: A Scientific Life & Times of Peter H. Duesberg
The Institute of Biotechnology of the Autonomous National University of México, distributed by North Atlantic Books, 2004 328 pp. paperback, $19.95 ISBN 1-55643-531-2 | ISBN: 1-55643-531-2
In this authoritative and elegantly written book, Harvey Bialy exposes a microcosm of today's medical science in a blistering analysis of the history of modern cancer and AIDS research. An almost unique hybrid of scientific biography and autobiography, Oncogenes, Aneuploidy and AIDS is replete with Nobel laureates, editors of prestigious journals like Nature and Science, presidents of the US and South Africa and 'colorful' characters such as “Honest Dollar Bill” and the “OncoMouse.” But the central figure of Bialy's book is Peter Duesberg, a classical, no-nonsense University of California, Berkeley, professor who has for more than 20 years presented data and interpretations to cancer and AIDS scientists that call into question the fundamental notions of causality they espouse and which represent the dominant, mainstream positions—that specific genes when mutated cause cancer, and HIV causes AIDS. The sadly predictable result of questioning these two sacred cows of modern biomedicine was the almost complete destruction of a once lofty professional standing. Of late, however, Duesberg's name has begun to undergo some significant reconstruction, as Bialy makes clear in telling the fascinating and instructive story of his banishment from the High Table and his recent partial return to favor.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution