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(known as mad-cow disease) crisis, the parts of persons. Gajdusek could never The collectors of lost souls: Fore people became increasingly side- disentangle himself from the reciprocal turning scientists into lined and their story was all too often relationship with the Fore and for him whitemen reduced to the phenomenon of ritual the specimen always reminded him of . the person from whom they came – Author: Warwick Anderson In his book, Warwick Anderson, a people for whom he often cared in the Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press, medical doctor and science historian, last agonizing days of their lives. Baltimore, MD, 2008 recounts the complexity of the story This emphasis on the gift ISBN: 978-0801890406; hardback; 328 pages; by portraying how scientists learned economy may seem arcane but it has US$ 24.95 about kuru, not what they found out wide-ranging consequences. First, it or who got it right. Anderson offers an demonstrates how the commodifica- Kuru, later known to be an incurable absorbing account of kuru that is partly tion of biological items – genes, cells degenerative neurological disor- a biography of Gajdusek, and partly a or tissues – has altered the way science der transmitted by , was first historical and anthropological story of is done since the 1960s. The relation- noted in the Fore people of Papua New an encounter between the two worlds of ship between scientists is no longer Guinea by Australian administrators modern biomedicine and a Melanesian exclusively based on reciprocal trust. and a few anthropologists exploring the culture. The biological materials that earlier area in the 1950s. The young, adventur- Gajdusek was enmeshed in two were exchanged to form and foster ous American doctor, Daniel Carleton fragile and complex systems of gift relationships have now become com- Gajdusek (1923–2008), first came to exchange. The concept of “the gift” modities. Second, the gift economy in 1957, planning has long been an entry point into the of the Fore challenges fundamental to make only a short stop there on anthropological study of Melanesian assumptions of bioethics. Unlike in his way from Australia to the United cultures. Unlike commodities, gifts classic Eurocentric social theory, there States of America (USA). Gajdusek establish a relationship between the ex- are no stable, autonomous individuals had learned to love the excitement in Melanesian social practice. In this offered by epidemiological investiga- changing subjects and do not primarily satisfy desires. But gift economies are context, “informed consent” becomes a tions in challenging circumstances in somewhat unsuitable principle for the not restricted to pre-modern societies. Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of framing and resolution of bioethical Anderson thus draws parallels between Iran and Turkey. Rapidly enchanted by questions. People build trust through the gift economy of the Fore and the the Fore and the tropical environment, gift exchange. In Gajdusek’s case, this practices of biomedicine in the 1950s Gajdusek became fascinated by the trust then served as the basis for the and 1960s. To build his scientific repu- bizarre , which particularly af- passage of body parts to him and the tation, Gajdusek had to enter into ex- flicted women and children. The study global scientific enterprise. change relationships with his colleagues of kuru became a life-long passion of Anderson’s book is a valuable and the brilliant, flamboyant and troubled in Australia and the USA. To achieve sometimes provocative contribution doctor. His scientific passion culmi- this aim, he also had to participate in to the study of science and nated in the award of the Nobel Prize in the gift economy of the Fore. For the in colonial and post-colonial con- 1976, although his deep entanglement Fore, each person is a microcosm of re- texts. He shows how the relationships with the Fore people led to accusations lations that have been activated through between scientific researchers and their and a subsequent conviction of child individual agents. Gifts produce such “tribal” research subjects have changed molestation in 1996. relations and as a result “make” persons. in the past 50 years. Modern bioeth- The story of kuru and of prions Gajdusek was allowed to receive the ics has constructed welcome limits to has been told many times from the that made his research possible research activities in this regard, but scientific perspective. The human side (and also increased his repudiation) these limits are often defined purely of the story, encompassing a remark- because he gained the trust of many from the perspective of the western able cast of Fore people, colonial Fore people through gift exchange and, world. Anderson gives an eloquent officials and researchers, is equally as a consequence, became a true person voice to other concepts and shows that intriguing. Gajdusek, and later Stanley in their view. However, as soon as the truly global bioethics still face many Prusiner, attracted most of the atten- Fore body parts passed from one ex- challenges. ■ tion while the Fore people provided change regime to the other (the modern the exotic background. Especially after scientific community), they became review by Thomas P Weber a the bovine spongiform encephalopathy alienated and were no longer considered

a Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy. Correspondence to Thomas Weber (e-mail: [email protected]).

Bull World Health Organ 2009;87:731 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.069591 731