The Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease - Q. Ping Dou, PhD & Kenyon G. Daniel, PhD Student

Home	About	Nobel	Donate
The Book	Meetings	Grants	Contact

Q. Ping Dou, PhD

Co-Leader, Prevention Program, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Professor, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University

Kenyon G. Daniel, PhD Student

Prevention Program, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University

REVIEW

Unlike many disciplines, the medical sciences seem to lack theories that unify the myriad of observations that are recorded. Most disease studies seem to center around CAUSE: EFFECT: TREATMENT without extensive thought to an overall causality to the disease. Most diseases are treated as unique events that require unique treatments. This book has endeavored to take a large collection of data from a variety of seemingly independent diseases and unify them under a single overriding concept.

The theory proposed by the author is that latent viruses contain promoter sequences that directly compete with host genomic promoter sequences for a limited supply of pre-initiation complexes (PICs). By reducing the available pool of PICs, healthy gene regulation is disrupted, allowing a disease state to manifest. For example, the author states that in cancer cells, unphosphorylated Rb is of crucial importance for the cellular growth arrest and differentiation. The pool of unphosphorylated Rb protein is principally increased by the creation of new Rb protein (rather than dephosphorylation, or decreased degradation). Cells infected with latent GABP virus compete with endogenous Rb promoter for PICs that results in decreased expression of unphosphorylated Rb and increased cellular proliferation. This concept is expanded to include numerous diseases and is discussed in great detail.

The only problem with this book is the extreme detail that is not coupled with a concise "big picture" summary. The technical notes are filled with mathematical descriptions and an alphabet soup of abbreviations and symbols. This makes those sections somewhat difficult to read. Furthermore, while the author devotes a chapter to what theories are and what the importance of theories is, they fail to briefly and coherently describe their theory. A critical nature of theories is that they are relatively straightforward and simple to understand. While the theory being described by the book is understandable, the author has not adequately presented the theory such that a reader can quickly determine the nature of their theory. This is a shame since the field really needs more books of this nature and this theory is well-researched and very sound.

Overall, while the book is very difficult to read, it is an important book for a medical researcher to read. Not only does the book present a strong theory to unify the cause of many diverse disease states, the book itself represents an aspect lacking in the field of medical science, an attempt to unify observations into coherent theories.

BIOGRAPHIES

After receiving his PhD in Chemistry from Rutgers University in 1988, Dr. Q. Ping Dou completed his postdoctoral training in molecular biology and pharmacology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School (Mentor: Arthur B. Pardee). He was a faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, and the University of South Florida before his current positions. Dr. Dou is an expert in the research areas of cell cycle, apoptosis, proteasome and green tea, and has extensive experience in the field of anticancer/chemopreventative drug discovery. His current research focuses on molecular targeting and the cancer-preventative mechanisms of green tea polyphenols, soy isoflavones, tannic acid and other natural products. Dr. Dou also has extensive experience in professional service, including study sections, advisory and editorial boards, and scientific committees.

Kenyon G. Daniel has been involved with science since a very early age and has been fascinated by both chemistry and biology throughout his education. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Florida in 2000, and he is currently finishing a PhD in Medical Science. A large amount of Kenyon's undergraduate studies centered around philosophy, rhetoric, and writing as well as biology. These subjects in conjunction with his doctoral training have created his current outlook on science. Kenyon believes that not only are observations, facts, and experiments necessary but these need to be guided by philosophy. He has worked with Dr. Dou for the past 5 years, and together they have explored cancer and drug discovery in a way that may be unique to most students. Dr. Dou's guidance of Kenyon's development has involved as much discussion as experiments, as much computer science as biological science and a healthy dose of philosophy tempered by reality.

MORE REVIEWS