Curing Cancer

The recent startling discovery that a single gene prevents the cells in the body from becoming tumors marked a dramatic turning point in cancer research. Taking readers into the labs where researchers have determined that cancers are caused either genetically or environmentally by destroying this newfound gene, Curing Cancer brings to life the race to unlock cancer's genetic code. It profiles scientists such as Bert Vogelstein, who first uncovered the tumor-suppressing gene; Mary-Claire King, whose research into breast cancer is fueled by personal passion; and Mark Skolnick, whose team found two genes that may account for 10 percent of all breast cancers.

Michael Waldholz is a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He is the coauthor, with Jerry Bishop, of Genome, a book based on their prizewinning Wall Street Journal series on the hunt for genes. Waldholz lives in Montclair, New Jersey.