The Story of Taxol Nature and Politics in the Pursuit of an Anti-Cancer Drug [Hardcover]

The story of taxol; arguably the most celebrated and controversial natural product in recent years.Taxol is arguably the most celebrated, talked about and controversial natural product in recent years: celebrated because of its efficacy as an anticancer drug and because its discovery has provided powerful support for policies concerned with biodiversity; talked about because in the early 1990s, the American public was bombarded with news reports about the molecule and its host; and controversial because the drug and the tree became embroiled in a number of sensitive political issues with wide implications for the conduct of public policy. Taxol: Nature, Science, and Politics tells this story.Taxol is arguably the most celebrated, talked about and controversial natural product in recent years: celebrated because of its efficacy as an anticancer drug and because its discovery has provided powerful support for policies concerned with biodiversity; talked about because in the early 1990s, the American public was bombarded with news reports about the molecule and its host; and controversial because the drug and the tree became embroiled in a number of sensitive political issues with wide implications for the conduct of public policy. Taxol: Nature, Science, and Politics tells this story.Taxol is arguably the most celebrated, talked about, and controversial natural product in recent years. Celebrated because of its efficacy as an anticancer drug and because its discovery has provided powerful support for policies concerned with biodiversity. Talked about because in the early 1990s the American public was bombarded with news reports about the molecule and its host, the slow-growing Pacific yew tree. Controversial because the drug and the yew tree became embroiled in several sensitive political issues with broad public policy implications. Taxol has revolutionized the treatment options for patients with advanced forms of breast and ovarian cancers and some types of ll3.