Racing to the Beginning of the Road is a look at the methods and outcomes of cancer research, designed to appeal to readers without a scientific background -- those familiar with the subject, however, will be riveted by the author’s knowledge of the men and women who have devoted their careers to it. In this updated paperback edition of the Harmony Books hardcover, award-winning researcher Robert A.

Weinberg explains the amazing advances in the field of cancer research, from just a few decades ago up to the fast-paced present. Inviting readers into the hallways and laboratories of some of the field’s greatest thinkers, Weinberg describes discoveries such as the oncogene and the tumor-suppressing gene, and other important events in the field, in a clear, easy-to-understand tone. The VHL gene is a tumor-suppressor gene.

and visit the VHLFA bookstore

"A nontechnical and exhilarating description of how this field has evolved." (Nature)

"An authentic, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable book about the momentous scientific developments to which Weinberg has so richly contributed." (Science)

"The next time one of my research friends asks me to recommend a book that will imbue his son or daughter with the true excitement of biomedical investigation, I’ll tell him to buy a copy of Racing to the Beginning of the Road." (New York Times Book Review)

Robert A. Weinberg is a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been awarded the National Medal of Science and the Keio Medical Science Foundation Prize in 1997.

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 7:2, June 1999. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.