Star Palms

Religion & Spirituality

Armstrong, Sue

Occult & Paranormal

Orion Publishing Co

The story of the search for p53--the most important gene in medicine.
All of us have lurking in our DNA a most remarkable gene: it is known simply as p53 and its job is to protect us from cancer. p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code tells the story of the discovery of the gene and of medical science’s mission to unravel its mysteries and get to the heart of what happens in our cells when they turn cancerous. When all is well, this gene constantly scans our cells to ensure that when they grow and divide as part of the routine maintenance of our bodies, they do so without mishap. If a cell makes a mistake in copying its DNA during the process of division, p53 stops it in its tracks, sending in the repair team before allowing the cell to carry on dividing. Cancer cannot develop unless p53 itself is damaged or handicapped by some other fault in the system. Not surprisingly, p53 is the most studied single gene in history. 
Through the personal accounts of key researchers, the book reveals the excitement of the hunt for new cures--the hype, the enthusiasm, the lost opportunities, the blind alleys and the thrilling breakthroughs. As the long-anticipated revolution in cancer treatment tailored to each individual patient’s symptoms starts to take off at last, p53 is at the cutting edge. This is a timely tale of scientific discovery and advances in our understanding of a disease that still affects more than one in three of us at some point in our lives.

p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Diseases & Physical Ailments

Bloomsbury Sigma

The question of how and why organisms age has teased scientists for centuries. There are myriad competing theories, from the idea that aging is a simple wear and tear process, like the rusting of a car, to the belief that aging and death are genetically programmed and controlled. In fact, there is no clearly defined limit to life, and no single, predictable program playing itself out: different things are happening within and between tissues, and each system or organ accumulates damage at its own pace, according to the kind of insults imposed on it by daily living.
Sometime before 2020, the number of people over sixty-five worldwide will, for the first time, be greater than the number of 0-4 year olds; and by 2050 there are likely to be 2.5 times as many older people in the world as toddlers. Sue Armstrong tells the story of society's quest to understand aging through the eyes of the scientists themselves, as well as through the "ordinary" people who exemplify the mysteries of ageing--from those who suffer from the premature aging condition, Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, to people still running marathons in their 80s. 
Borrowed Time will investigate such mind-boggling experiments as transfusing young blood into old rodents, and research into transplanting the first human head, among many others. It will explore where science is taking us and what issues are being raised from a psychological, philosophical and ethical perspective, through interviews with, and profiles of, key scientists in the field and the people who represent interesting and important aspects of aging.

Borrowed Time: The Science of How and Why We Age (Bloomsbury Sigma)

Parenting & Relationships

About the Author\nSue Armstrong is a science writer and broadcaster based in Edinburgh. She has worked for a variety of media organisations, including New Scientist, and since the 1980s has undertaken regular assignments for the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS, writing about women's health issues and the AIDS pandemic, among many other topics, and reporting from the frontline in countries as diverse as Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Thailand, Namibia and Serbia. Sue has been involved, as presenter, writer and researcher, in several major documentaries for BBC Radio 4; programmes have focused on the biology of ageing, and of drug addiction, alcoholism, obesity, AIDS, CJD, cancer and stress. Her previous book was p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code, also published with Bloomsbury Sigma. It has been highly commended by the BMA Book Award.\nUncovering the science behind how and why we age.\nThe aging of the world population is one of the most important issues facing humanity in the 21st century--up there with climate change in its potential global impact. Sometime before 2020, the number of people over 65 worldwide will, for the first time, be greater than the number of 0–4 year olds, and it will keep on rising. The strains this is causing on society are already evident as health and social services everywhere struggle to cope with the care needs of the elderly.\nBut why and how do we age? Scientists have been asking this question for centuries, yet there is still no agreement. There are a myriad competing theories, from the idea that our bodies simply wear out with the rough and tumble of living, like well-worn shoes or a rusting car, to the belief that ageing and death are genetically programmed and controlled.\nIn Borrowed Time, Sue Armstrong tells the story of science's quest to understand ageing and to prevent or delay the crippling conditions so often associated with old age. She focuses inward--on what is going on in our bodies at the most basic level of the cells and genes as the years pass--to look for answers to why and how our skin wrinkles with age, our wounds take much longer to heal than they did when we were kids, and why words escape us at crucial moments in conversation.This book explores these questions and many others through interviews with key scientists in the field of gerontology and with people who have interesting and important stories to tell about their personal experiences of aging.

Borrowed Time: The Science of How and Why We Age

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Sue Armstrong's debut novel, ALLEYCAT, is a story about friendship, relationships, and love. Set in the winter and spring of 1971, the story takes place in Monmouth, Oregon, where six nineteen year old students meet on a cold January night. The Equal Rights Amendment was just a whisper and even the Viet Nam war barely touched their lives. A teachers school, Oregon College of Education was a small institution on a quiet campus in a dry town. Only a few students had cars; walking and hitchhiking were common. Telephones were a rarity. Dorms were gender-specific at OCE and visiting hours were strict--no men allowed after 11:00 and room doors had to be left open. At least as sophomores, the girls had some freedom from curfew if they lived in the dorm. ALLEYCAT is the story of Alex, Cal, Judy, Neil, Renee, and Savannah and the unlikely friendship they formed in a diner called Alleycat.

Alleycat

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Year of the Pig (Alleycat)

White Wolf Weaver in the World of Darkness werewolf

Book of the Weaver (Werewolf: The Apocalypse)

Humor & Entertainment

McKinney, Deena

Skemp, Ethan

Skoog, Sven

Puzzles & Games

White Wolf Publishing

A Matter of Life and Death profiles some of the world's most eminent and pioneering pathologists. This is a hidden world, yet one we will all inevitably encounter at some time in our lives, for pathology lies at the cornerstone of modern medicine. It is pathologists who are responsible for recognising new diseases such as AIDS, SARS or bird flu, and for diagnosing which cancer a patient is suffering from. And it is pathologists who must explain the cause of death at the autopsy table.
A Matter of Life and Death tells fascinating stories of mysterious illnesses and miraculous scientific breakthroughs. But it is also crammed full of extraordinary characters - from the forensic anthropologist with his own Body Farm in Tennessee to the doctor who had a heart-and-lung transplant and ended up using her own lungs for research.

A Matter of Life and Death: Inside the Hidden World of the Pathologist

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Books by Armstrong, Sue