Biological weapons are not new. Their use by armies has taken place for centuries. Take the Plague, for example. The pandemic was reportedly first introduced to Europe during the siege of the Genoese trading port of Kaffa in Crimea by the Golden Horde army of Jani Beg in 1347. It decimated 30 percent of the European population. Paradoxically, the resultant labor shortage and lack of faith in the prevailing order …
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Biological weapons: a history and emerging risks
I sat in a lecture hall at Baylor College of Medicine many years ago. It was noon, and though October had bought some respite from Houston’s heat and humidity, the air-conditioned room was still very inviting. To top it, there was lunch. The lunch came with a rider — sitting through Grand Rounds — and I welcomed the occasion to get off my feet for the next hour. With the …
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The dark side of immortality: What if we could live forever?
The genius of Henry Ford was in his perfection of mass production. Ford’s assembly lines produced oodles of Model T, with economies of scale so that the cost of each car fell to the point that even those working in those lines could afford them. His method was copied by other car manufacturers and ultimately by other industries as well.
The pharmaceutical industry was one of them. The industry mass produces …
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Can personalized medicine live up to its hype in health care?
