The Grandest Challenge—Bringing Life-Saving Science from Lab to Village

The health-sciences equivalent of Thomas Friedman's bestseller The World is Flat, this inspiring and revelatory book by two of today's finest scientists shows how advances in global health will transform lives -- particularly in the developing world -- over the next decade.

The Grandest Challenge begins with a simple premise: that every person's life is of equal value, regardless of where in the world he or she lives. It also begins with a simple, alarming fact: in this age of spectacular scientific advances, it is still those who live in the developed world -- in the West -- who benefit most from our enormous power to combat disease, and those in the developing world who are most likely to die for lack of basic, inexpensive care and nutrition.

In this revelatory book, distinguished scientists Abdallah Daar and Peter Singer argue that the revolution in biotechnology can save millions of lives -- but only if we find a way to bring knowledge and treatments out of state-of-the-art labs and into the world's most remote villages. The doctors lead us on an eye-opening, globe-spanning tour, showing us in vivid detail how developing countries can and are breaking the cycle of dependence, exchanging knowledge, and creating solutions that work for their own people as well as the rest of us.

ABDALLAH DAAR was born in Tanzania. He is a Professor of Public Health Sciences and of Surgery at the University of Toronto, and Director of Ethics and Commercialization at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health. He is the recipient of the UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics of Science, and often advises governments and the UN, UNESCO, WHO and OECD on global health.

PETER SINGER is Director of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He has advised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UN Secretary-General's Office, the Government of Canada, and Pepsico Inc. He is also a sought-after commentator and public speaker.