Product Description

In this lucid and entertaining book, Mel Greaves argues that evolutionary biology offers a new perspective that can help us unravel the riddle of cancer. Why, for example, have women always had such a raw deal in the cancer stakes? And why are some cancers, such as prostate cancer, increasing in incidence? Greaves argues that Darwinian selection millions of years ago has endowed our genes and cells with inherently cancerous credentials, and this is exacerbated by our rapid social evolution and exotic behavioural traits that outpace genetic adaptation. The book is full of novel insights, the latest scientific discoveries, and wonderful historical anecdotes. It provides a unique portrait of cancer, past, present, and future.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #990733 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 290 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Cancer is one of the major afflictions of society today, especially in the developed world. The disease develops as a chromosomal gene disorder in single cells. Worldwide, over eight million new cancer diagnoses are delivered each year and every day 1500 Americans die of the disease. Mel Greaves shows in The Deepest Legacy that the disease has been around for a long time, even dinosaurs got it 200 million years ago. Cancer does not select its victims on a basis of wealth, race, religion or intelligence. No one is immune to it but which cancer you are likely to get depends on many factors--where you live, what you eat and smoke and the genes you have inherited from your parents.

Greaves is a British professor of cell biology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, knows what he is writing about and manages to deal with this very complex and pervasive problem in an understandable way for the general reader. He uses a wealth of stories and anecdotes to illustrate the history of discovery and understanding of this group of diseases, their curious geographical distribution and evolution. Most importantly, Greaves manages to clearly differentiate between what is understood and what is still speculation.

This is not dumbed down science, be prepared to concentrate if you are to get the full value of what he is explaining. Cancer is more complex than the 5000 other human genetic diseases that arise as inherited, single gene traits. Unfortunately, the painful reality is that there is no holy grail, no magic cure-all bullet and no quick fix. But as Greaves says, demystifying the disease is to travel over a new and more realistic landscape. If you know anyone who still smokes, give them a copy. Notes, further reading and addresses for help and advice about cancer make this more than just a fascinating read. --Douglas Palmer

The Lancet, March 3, 2001
...a cleverly paced and extremely informative guide to current thinking about the evolutionary biology of cancer.

Review
The more you read of this, the harder it is to put down. (Nursing Standard )

This is a most engaging and accessible book... There are plenty of books on cancer as a disease, but this book is unusual in its focus on the underlying biological principles. (Journal of Biological Education )

Thoroughly recommendable. (Microbiology Today )

Customer Reviews

superb account of cancer from a darwinian perspective
A highly informative account of cancer from a darwinian evolutionary perspective. Very well-written and a pleasure to read. Greatly recommended.