The Living Medicine - by Lina Zeldovich (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A remarkable story of the scientists behind a long-forgotten and life-saving cure: the healing viruses that can conquer antibiotic resistant bacterial infections First discovered in 1917, bacteriophages-or "phages"-are living medicines: viruses that devour bacteria. Ubiquitous in the environment, they are found in water, soil, inside plants and animals, and in the human body. When phages were first recognized as medicines, their promise seemed limitless. Grown by research scientists and physicians in France, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere to target specific bacteria, they cured cholera, dysentery, bubonic plague, and other deadly infectious diseases. But after Stalin's brutal purges and the rise of antibiotics, phage therapy declined and nearly was lost to history-until today. In The Living Medicine, acclaimed science journalist Lina Zeldovich reveals the remarkable history of phages, told through the lives of the French, Soviet, and American scientists who discovered, developed, and are reviving this unique cure for seemingly-intractable diseases. Ranging from Paris to Soviet Georgia to Egypt, India, South Africa, remote islands in the Far East, and America, The Living Medicine shows how phages once saved tens of thousands of lives. Today, with our antibiotic shield collapsing, Zeldovich demonstrates how phages are making our food safe and, in cases of dire emergency, rescuing people from the brink of death. They may be humanity's best defense against the pandemics to come. Filled with adventure, human ambition, tragedy, technology, irrepressible scientists and the excitement of their innovation, The Living Medicine offers a vision of how our future may be saved by knowledge from the past"--

Book Synopsis

Longlist for the PEN/E. O Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

A remarkable story of the scientists behind a long-forgotten and life-saving cure: the healing viruses that can conquer antibiotic resistant bacterial infections

First discovered in 1917, bacteriophages--or "phages"--are living medicines: viruses that devour bacteria. Ubiquitous in the environment, they are found in water, soil, inside plants and animals, and in the human body.

When phages were first recognized as medicines, their promise seemed limitless. Grown by research scientists and physicians in France, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere to target specific bacteria, they cured cholera, dysentery, bubonic plague, and other deadly infectious diseases.

But after Stalin's brutal purges and the rise of antibiotics, phage therapy declined and nearly was lost to history--until today. In The Living Medicine, acclaimed science journalist Lina Zeldovich reveals the remarkable history of phages, told through the lives of the French, Soviet, and American scientists who discovered, developed, and are reviving this unique cure for seemingly-intractable diseases. Ranging from Paris to Soviet Georgia to Egypt, India, Kenya, Siberia, and America, The Living Medicine shows how phages once saved tens of thousands of lives. Today, with our antibiotic shield collapsing, Zeldovich demonstrates how phages are making our food safe and, in cases of dire emergency, rescuing people from the brink of death. They may be humanity's best defense against the pandemics to come.

Filled with adventure, human ambition, tragedy, technology, irrepressible scientists and the excitement of their innovation, The Living Medicine offers a vision of how our future may be saved by knowledge from the past.

Review Quotes

"The Living Medicine is a page-turning story that chronicles how scientific progress challenges orthodoxy. Written with evidence and with charisma, this book reads like Malcolm Gladwell at his best, the suspense never stops, but neither does science, every fact and theory are documented in refereed journals. Zeldovich doesn't skimp on the science - she doesn't need to because she has that rare talent for clarifying complicated topics without dumbing them down. What makes this book a gift to humanity is that Zeldovich uncovered something at the intersection of history and science that you need to know. Read this book and you'll see the future of medical treatment." -Ransom Stephens, author of The Left Brain Speaks, the Right Brain Laughs

"Intriguing, complex and constantly surprising, The Living Medicine, is a combination detective story and history lesson about one of the most important issues facing medicine around the world: what the hell do we do when antibiotics stop working? Zeldovich is a smart, lively writer who is unafraid of exploring messy worlds and inconvenient public health truths, so she's the perfect international guide through this resonant saga."
Stephen Fried, New York Times best-selling author of RUSH and Bitter Pills, co-author of A Common Struggle and Profiles in Mental Health Courage.

"The Living Medicine is one of those remarkable stories in the history of science, full of insights into the mysteries of disease, determined researchers, and genuinely surprising results. Not only does Lina Zeldovich tell it beautifully but she imbues it with that rarest of qualities, the shimmer and promise of hope." - Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

"If you were rapt by The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, you will be entranced by The Living Medicine, which weaves medical history, science and story-telling into an unputdownable book. It is an incredible honor for me and my husband Tom to be included in its pages." -Steffanie Strathdee, PhD, author of The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband From a Deadly Superbug

"Bacteriophage therapy is an artifact and a wonder, a century-old cure obscured for decades by political conflict and transnational suspicion. Lina Zeldovich is uniquely equipped to unpack its history. Her accounts of scientific discoveries rescued from bureaucracy and repression, and desperate illnesses quelled by near-miraculous interventions, affirm that great ideas will always, somehow, attain the spotlight they deserve." -- Maryn McKenna, author of Big Chicken, Superbug, and Beating Back the Devil

"Deeply researched and wildly engaging--this is science writing at its best. The Living Medicine is a brilliant examination of an urgent topic that affects us all. Zeldovich makes the history and development of bacteriophages as antibiotic alternatives come to life. It's as fascinating as it is enraging--I couldn't believe America hadn't long since implemented a treatment other countries have been using for decades." -Olivia Campbell, New York Times bestselling author of Women in White Coats and Sisters in Science.

"In a well-written book that ranges widely through scientific history, marked by episodes of suppression on the part of both the Soviet authorities and the American medical and pharmaceutical establishments, Zeldovich makes a convincing case for phages helping us all in the future. A capably told microbiological detective story, with the promise of magic bullets to come." - Kirkus

"[A] robust study...Zeldovich makes a strong case that medical professionals are underutilizing phages, and she provides fascinating historical background on why they've been overlooked." - Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Lina Zeldovich grew up in a dissident family of Soviet scientists and learned English as a second language in her twenties, as an immigrant New Yorker. Now an award-winning journalist, author, speaker, and Columbia Journalism School alumna, she has contributed hundreds of stories for leading publications including Popular Science Magazine, The New York Times, Reader's Digest, Scientific American, Smithsonian, National Geographic, and BBC, and appeared on radio, podcasts and TV. Her last book, The Other Dark Matter: The Science and Business of Turning Waste into Wealth and Health, has been optioned for a TV series. She lives in New York City.