Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The Prion Triumphs


For John, BLUFBeware of "settled science".  Nothing to see here; just move along.



From the pages of The New York Times we have a review of a new book on science.
Madness and Memory:The Discovery of Prions--A New Biological Principle of Disease
Stanley B. Prusiner (Author), David L. Michelmore (Editor)

Sometimes it appears that scientific advancement is not a minuet of after you, no after you, but rather guerrilla warfare, with little skirmishes continuing even after the Nobel Prize has been bestowed.

The lede:

Sweet revenge comes in many delectable forms, among them the receipt of accolades for work long scorned.  And then to get to tell the whole story at length and without a single interruption — small wonder that the Nobel laureate Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner, a renowned neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, writes with a cheerful bounce.  Once disparaged, his scientific work is now hailed as visionary, and his memoir takes the reader on a leisurely and immensely readable victory lap from then to now.
Regards  —  Cliff

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