Fatal Flaws
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Initial publish date
- May 2013
- Category
- General, Social Psychology, General
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781443412148
- Publish Date
- May 2012
- List Price
- $11.99
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781443412124
- Publish Date
- May 2012
- List Price
- $29.99
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781443412131
- Publish Date
- May 2013
- List Price
- $19.99
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Description
Most people have never heard of prions. Indeed, most are only barely aware of the diseases caused by them, except, perhaps, for mad cow disease. Yet prions are the stuff of a revolutionary science—a science that might lead to cures for some of humankind’s most devastating diseases.
Fatal Flaws is a scientific detective story about this elusive protein, starting with the discovery of kuru, a disease unique to New Guinea in the 1950s that baffled scientists and carried with it whispers of cannibalism. Kuru began a scientific stampede to seek out the agent of this mysterious disease—the prion—a misfolded protein whose existence some of the world’s top scientists still find difficult to accept. Today, the subject of prions remains controversial, yet the proteins might promise new treatments for some of the most intractable brain diseases, ones that affect millions around the planet, including Parkinson’s, ALS and Alzheimer’s.
In Fatal Flaws, Jay Ingram unties a complicated interweaving of biology, medicine, human tragedy, surprise and disbelief in the world of prions, and he unravels some of history’s most stunning revelations about disease, the brain and infection.
About the author
JAY INGRAM was the host of Discovery Channel Canada’s Daily Planet from its first episode until June 2011. Prior to joining Discovery, Ingram hosted CBC Radio’s national science show Quirks & Quarks. He has received the Sandford Fleming Award from the Royal Canadian Institute, the Royal Society of Canada’s McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science and the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. He is the recipient of the 2015 Walter C. Alvarez Award from the American Medical Writers Association. He is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Alberta, has received five honorary doctorates and is a member of the Order of Canada. He has written fourteen books, including the bestselling Theatre of the Mind and Fatal Flaws.
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