His Brother's Keeper: A Story from the Edge of Medicine

HisBrother’sKeeperisabookabouttheepitomeofthenewbiology:regenerativemedicine.Ittellsthestoryoftheepiclineofcellresearchthatisrightnowcomingtogetherwithdiscoveriesthattakeusacrossthebordersofbiologyintosomeofitsmostfascinatingandbewilderingfrontiers,includingcloning,genomic,moleculargenetics,geneticengineering,andembryonicstemcells.Thisisabookthatexploresthemomentwhenlifescienceinthepursuitofmedicineachievesthepowertodirectnewstepsintheevolutionofthehumanbodyandspirit.Thestoryistoldthroughthelivesoftwoamazingbrothers:StephenHeywood,acarpenter,whodiscovershehasA.L.S.,agradual,mysteriousdeteriorationofthenervoussystem,alsoknownasLouGehrig‘sdisease,andJamieHeywood,anengineerwhoquitshislucrativejobtostartafoundationwhereheobsessivelyworkswithcutting-edgescientistsinaracetofindacure.Throughthisremarkablejourneywithafamilyincrisis,wearegivenanoverviewofthevariousgenetherapiesthatarestillonthehorizon,capableofpotentiallybringingbackthosesufferingfromsuchneurologicaldiseasesasA.L.S.,Alzheimer’s,Parkinson’s,andothervariousdisordersofthebrain.ThroughthetranslucentproseofJonathanWeiner,weexperiencenotonlythepassionandtormentoftheHeywoods,butwelearnavastamountaboutthegroundbreakingtechnologiesthatmayonedaysaveourownlivesandcertainlychangethewaywelivethem.