HIE Library Archive 2000  

The 1998 edition of the Mill Hill Essays is now available at:

http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/mhe98

The Mill Hill Essays are published annually to promote the Public Understanding of Science. They were inspired by a series of BBC Radio lectures given by eminent scientists in the 1950's, and subsequently published as a book. They are written by members of staff of the National Institute for Medical Research and guest authors, and are designed to be accessible to anyone with an interest in science and the natural world.

This fourth collection of Mill Hill essays addresses more issues of topical or continuing interest. They are written with a general audience in mind.

Fifty years ago the results of Clinical Trials ordered by the Medical Research Council to test the effectiveness of streptomycin as a cure for tuberculosis were announced. Jo Colston, head of the Division of Mycobacterial Research describes the important lessons learned and how this sort of carefully designed and controlled trial became the standard in clinical medicine.

Rod King, Director of Studies at the Institute, comments on the current state of the rules of the game. The increasing importance of ethical issues in all areas of scientific research, medical practice and for those in positions of responsibility, and the high profile given by the media to those who let standards slip, demand continuous vigilance.

The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people than had died on both sides in the whole of the first World War. Influenza virus changes its properties from year to year and was not isolated from humans until 1933 so virologists, with an eye to controlling future outbreaks, would like to study the virus which did so much damage. Rod Daniels of the Division of Virology tells us about attempts to track down the 1918 virus.

Ed Hulme of the Division of Physical Biochemistry leads us into the central unsolved questions for neuroscientists. How do you link the extraordinarily complex organisation of brain cells with consciousness, the perception of self?

This year s guest author is Philip Minor from our sister institution the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control. Philip takes a hard and critical look at the evidence for and against a link between Crohn's disease, autism, and vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella, which has had considerable publicity in the last few years. The NIBSC was established as an autonomous Institute in 1976 after an initial period as a component of the NIMR. One of the first biological medicines which it had to control was insulin.

Diabetic disease affects one person in every two hundred and although it can be controlled by injection of insulin it cannot yet be cured. Guy Dodson, head of the Division of Protein Structure, shows how complex biophysical methods can give practical help in the design of new insulin molecules to improve the treatment of the condition.

© National Institute for Medical Research, London. (1998)