Book Description
Invisible Frontiers records the dramatic race run from the spring of 1976 to the autumn of 1978 to clone a human gene in order to engineer the mass production of the first genetically engineered drug: the life-sustaining hormone insulin. In this book Hall gives a behind-the-scenes look into the biologist Walter Gilbert; a University of California-San Francisco lab headed by William Rutter and Howard Goodman; and a third group made up largely of young postdocs, which under the
scientific direction of Herbert Boyer eventually become Genentech, the first company devoted to the use of genetic engineering (or recombinent DNA) in the creation of pharmaceuticals.
Synopsis
Invisible Frontiers records the dramatic race run from the spring of 1976 to the autumn of 1978 to clone a human gene in order to engineer the mass production of the first genetically engineered drug: the life-sustaining hormone insulin. In this book Hall gives a behind-the-scenes look into the biologist Walter Gilbert; a University of California-San Francisco lab headed by William Rutter and Howard Goodman; and a third group made up largely of young postdocs, which under the scientific direction of Herbert Boyer eventually become Genentech, the first company devoted to the use of genetic engineering (or recombinent DNA) in the creation of pharmaceuticals. From here Hall weaves together the threads of the story - the triumph of modern-day research, the combativeness of the labs, the persistent presence of government regulation, and the unpredictable affects of local politics - to produce an outstanding journal of scientific discovery. Given the current intense coverage of the human genome project, the historical importance of this book is greatly apparent.
Wlater Gilbert, one of the leading characters in the book, received a Nobel Prize in 1980 for developing the technology (DNA sequencing) that allowed the birth of biotechnology and of the formation of Genentech. Considering the fact that there are currently 1300 biotechnology companies in the US alone, and every major pharmaceutical company has now made genetic engineering the centrepience of its drug discovery process, this book is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1987.
