Hitting the Target

spring books complexity. With time, Benzer himself real- ized that Drosophila are not behavioural atoms but rather intricate individuals. He abandoned behavioural for developmental analysis. No doubt, Weiner was captivated by the eccentric style of Benzerism, and this encouraged him to recite scores of amusing anecdotes. Whether all appeal to the general public, or only to a small cult, is a different question. Another caveat is also appropriate: stu- dents who read the book should not expect mainstream science to follow Benzer’s model. Most laboratory work is much more boring than the hunt for bizarre mutants in the forefront of science. Most mentors are much less imaginative, daring and permis- sive than Benzer. And, unfortunately, the days are long gone when an enthusiastic investigator shared plans without fear, and mutants without a lawyer. This was before business killed fair play. Tracing the development of lines As for Benzer himself — at the age of 77 he has just discovered a new mutant, The artistic development of talented and less Development in Children: Comparative Methuselah, that refuses to age. talented children was compared over a ten-year Studies of Talent (Cambridge University Yadin Dudai is at the Weizmann Institute of period by the developmental psychologist Press, £40, $59.95). Milbrath describes Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Constance Milbrath. She assessed the ages of the development of artistic talent as development of different elements of drawing, being dependent on both figurative and including form, spatial relationships and cognitive abilities. Here, a talented composition. The study has been written up in 11-year-old has drawn the back views of Hitting a technical book, Patterns of Artistic two people and a dog. the target erudite book, with appeal to readers across a even the simplest antibacterial agents to The Elusive Magic Bullet wide spectrum of backgrounds. ensure that we don’t succumb to a brief by John Mann His new book continues and expands on encounter with pathogens in our everyday Oxford University Press: 1999. 202 pp. this theme and approach. Its focus is the dis- life. Average life expectancy was only about £18.99, $29.95 covery of twentieth-century medicines for 45 years at the turn of this century, when Stephen Neidle the treatment of bacterial and viral diseases Alexander Fleming started as a medical stu- and cancer, and their historical context. Its dent. One child in six did not survive beyond The use of medicines to combat disease style is a beguiling blend of science and his- five years. Mann has provided a vivid almost certainly predates recorded human torical detail, liberally spiced with anecdotes account of the devastating impact that bacte- history. One can imagine our prehistoric and accounts of the wider impact of these rial diseases had on the populace, right up to ancestors, during the course of foraging for discoveries. the Second World War, and the dramatic food, finding that whereas some plants and The “magic bullet” concept originated effects of the widespread availability of fruits were harmful, others could have bene- with Paul Ehrlich. Mann pays fitting tribute antibiotics such as penicillin and strepto- ficial effects. The Chinese developed particu- to Ehrlich as the true father of modern mycin. Some topics, such as the discovery of lar expertise with herbal remedies, a tradi- approaches to drug discovery, since he also penicillin and its subsequent development tion that is at least 5,000 years old and still effectively devised the concepts of therapeu- into a clinically available drug, are rightly thrives today. tic index, chemoreceptors and combination given extensive coverage. The problems of The science of drug discovery has its ori- therapy. But it is the idea that there exist per- drug resistance and superbugs are also dis- gins in this tradition. Many subsequent cul- fectly specific drugs to combat human dis- cussed in brief, but adequate, illustrated tures also contributed, with primitive phar- ease that grabs the public imagination. One descriptions of antibiotics’ modes of action macy arising from the ancient Greeks, and real strength of this book is Mann’s critical and the molecular basis of resistance. notably from the Arabic world. The Dark examination of this idea, especially in the Surprisingly, in a book written by a Ages onwards saw these elements intertwin- context of anti-cancer therapies, where pub- chemist, there is not a single chemical struc- ing with the pseudo-science of alchemy, a lic demand for magic bullets is a potent force. ture to be found, even though there are combination that dominated materia med- The survey of biological approaches to numerous descriptions of them and their ica until the onset of modern science at the cancer therapy succinctly covers such topics significant features. Perhaps the publishers end of the eighteenth century. All this and as interleukins, Ras farnesyltransferase felt that the inclusion of chemical formulae more was the subject of John Mann’s earlier inhibitors, angiogenesis and antibody- would intimidate potential purchasers. book, Murder, Magic and Medicine, which directed enzyme prodrug therapy. As Mann Following the Second World War, the focused on the use of natural products points out, this last approach probably search for further chemotherapeutic agents through the ages, for both base and noble comes closest to Ehrlich’s original concept, with selective activity against particular purposes. Mann, a distinguished natural even though it still awaits full verification in organisms became the mainstay of much of product chemist himself, succeeded in the the clinic. the pharmaceutical industry. Many compa- difficult task of writing an entertaining yet It is difficult to envisage a world without nies were effectively vast palaces of organic 774 © 1999 Macmillan Magazines Ltd NATURE | VOL 398 | 29 APRIL 1999 | www.nature.com spring books chemistry and microbiology, to which other scientist, it was simply too tantalizing for me biological sciences were mere appendages to resist the temptation to preview what he providing the necessary in vitro and in vivo Taming the writes about a disorder that I have spent most screens. Studies of the products of mould of my professional life studying. and microorganism metabolism and their black dog I was not disappointed; there is much chemistry dominated drug research. This Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy good here. As he himself now recognizes, one approach resulted in the discovery of many of Depression of the major problems with depression is the effective antibacterial and some useful anti- by Lewis Wolpert stigma attached to it by both the public and tumour agents. Others often resulted from Faber & Faber: 1999. 186 pp. £9.99 many health-care providers. His willingness chance findings, notably the anticancer drug to share the pain, self-doubt, hopelessness Charles B. Nemeroff cisplatin. and helplessness that is pathognomonic of However, by the late 1980s drug discovery In the past decade, a number of books have this disorder will help many non-sufferers of was in a rut, with the realization that random documented personal experiences with depression to understand, and many de- screening was an expensive and ultimately depression or manic-depressive illness. pressed patients to fight this “black dog”, as unscientific way to find agents with signifi- There are the rare public figures willing and Churchill termed it. Wolpert’s description of cantly superior activity and selectivity. The able to share their voyages to hell and back. the severe sleep disturbance, obsession with subsequent revolution in our understanding There are the professionals (including men- suicide, anxiety, inability to concentrate, of the molecular basis of many diseases has tal-health workers) who have, after an diurnal mood variation and bewildering prompted fundamental changes in episode of depression, dramatically changed physical symptoms is compelling. His grasp approach. The current, more rational their view of the disorder. And there are the of the literature is, not surprisingly consider- approach is based on an understanding of articulate patients wishing to educate both ing his biological background, very topical pathogen and malignant cell and molecular the lay public and health-care professionals and generally accurate. He conveys the pub- biology. The impact of the human genome on the diagnosis and treatment of this devas- lic-health implications of depression in a project on the treatment of human disease tating disease. There are probably more than very readable manner, which is no small task. promises to be even more profound. 20 such volumes available, many of them He highlights several facets of depression Mann’s parting message is that all this excellent. Do we need another? In contem- that are generally not emphasized enough, takes us full circle, back to the essence of plating the request to review this book, I had including its remarkably high prevalence Ehrlich’s approach, based on the idea of to take into consideration my current tardi- worldwide, and the morbidity and mortality specific chemoreceptors. ness in several projects. So why did I agree? associated with it. In the United States, sui- Inevitably, a small book with such an For the biologists, the answer is obvious, cide is the ninth leading cause of death, in ambitious agenda has to emphasize some but to the rest of you, it is simply because the spite of the experts’ acknowledgement that topics more than others. I would have author is Lewis Wolpert. Wolpert is an many, if not most, suicides go unreported. expected to see a fuller (and illustrated) accomplished developmental biologist, who Wolpert’s repeated emphasis on depres- account of the impact of structure-based has not only made remarkable research con- sion as a systemic disease that affects several drug design, especially since there are several tributions, but has helped frame many ques- other organs, including the heart, is a well- excellent recent examples now in the clinic, tions in biological research, cutting across a established finding that has not received the such as the anti-HIV protease inhibitors.

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