The Malaria Project: The U.S. Government's Secret Mission to

The Malaria Project: The U.S. Government's Secret Mission to Find a Miracle Cure

A fascinating and shocking historical exposÃ©, The Malaria Project is the story of America's secret mission to combat malaria during World War IIâ€”a campaign modeled after a German project which tested experimental drugs on men gone mad from syphilis.

American war planners, foreseeing the tactical need for a malaria drug, recreated the German model, then grew it tenfold. Quickly becoming the biggest and most important medical initiative of the war, the project tasked dozens of the countryâ€™s top research scientists and university labs to find a treatment to remedy half a million U.S. troops incapacitated by malaria.

Spearheading the new U.S. effort was Dr. Lowell T. Coggeshall, the son of a poor Indiana farmer whose persistent drive and curiosity led him to become one of the most innovative thinkers in solving the malaria problem. He recruited private corporations, such as today's Squibb and Eli Lilly, and the nationâ€™s best chemists out of Harvard and Johns Hopkins to make novel compounds that skilled technicians tested on birds. Giants in the field of clinical research, including the future NIH director James Shannon, then tested the drugs on mental health patients and convicted criminalsâ€”including infamous murderer Nathan Leopold.

By 1943, a dozen strains of malaria brought home in the veins of sick soldiers were injected into these human guinea pigs for drug studies. After hundreds of trials and many deaths, they found their â€œmagic bullet,â€ but not in a U.S. laboratory. America 's best weapon against malaria, still used today, was captured in battle from the Nazis. Called chloroquine, it went on to save more lives than any other drug in history.

Karen M. Masterson, a journalist turned malaria researcher, uncovers the complete story behind this dark tale of science, medicine and war. Illuminating, riveting and surprising, The Malaria Project captures the ethical perils of seeking treatments for disease while ignoring the human condition.
Country USA
Manufacturer NAL
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2014-10-07
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780451467324

Country	USA
Manufacturer	NAL
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2014-10-07
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780451467324

The Malaria Project: The U.S. Government's Secret Mission to Find a Miracle Cure

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