Curved Air

Davies chronicles the remarkable history of one of medicine’s most devastating inherited diseases…Curved Air illuminates the trauma and triumphs of the ‘sickle-cell warriors,’ as some patients proudly refer to themselves, and the researchers who continue to search for a widely accessible cure.” – Laura Landro * Wall Street Journal *
Powerful and compelling…Davies takes readers on a whirlwind, and at times heart-wrenching, tour of the history and nature of sickle cell disease…Curved Air succeeds because it refuses to equate molecular mastery with medical victory. The story of sickle cell disease reminds us that scientific breakthroughs alone cannot transform global health care without affordability and social systems to deliver them. – Adrian Woolfson * Science *
If you or someone you love has SCD, this is your book. It explains where the disease came from, why it hasn’t been completely cured yet, and what kind of hope you can hold. It’s a good start on a path to comprehension. – Terri Schlichenmeyer * Miami Times *
A captivating history…Davies skillfully translates complex genetics into accessible prose and effectively connects scientific advances to broader questions of race and medical ethics. It’s an illuminating account of scientific progress and medical inequity. * Publishers Weekly *
A captivating century-long journey from sickle cell disease’s first clinical report (1910) to its first genome editing cure (2019), with poignant patient perspectives. Davies masterfully addresses many critical issues that exemplify inherited diseases, such as how can we achieve a momentous cure for the first molecular disease yet have so little impact on reducing its burden to date. – Eric Topol, author of Super Agers
In Curved Air, Davies has written more than the biography of a disease—he has written a deeply human story about pain, endurance, injustice, and hope. He understands that sickle cell disease is not just a mutation in a gene, but a force that shapes families, identities, and entire lives. This book holds the beauty of scientific discovery in one hand and the cruelty of medical neglect in the other—and refuses to look away from either. For that reason alone, it is a remarkable and necessary work. – Jimi Olaghere, sickle cell warrior
Over the past seventy-five years, we have seen a revolution in biotechnology and breakthroughs in the field of molecular medicine. In Curved Air, Davies tells the story of how the study of sickle cell disease helped to launch those advances. Curved Air is a beautifully written book that bridges molecular science with growing interest in the medical humanities. The fact that sickle cell disease is also one of humankind’s most glaring health disparities adds a rich narrative around bioethics and equity. – Peter Hotez, author of The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science
Curved Air is a magnificent product of medical history research and writing skill. Davies has dug out facts that I knew nothing about or only hazily recalled. It’s the best work on this cruel disease that I’ve ever seen. I’m deeply grateful. The book will be a classic in the field. – David G. Nathan, MD, President Emeritus, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston
An enduring work of art and a lively, accurate account of sickle cell disease. I want to send this book to everyone I know. – Vivien Sheehan, Director, Translational Sickle Cell Research, Emory University School of Medicine
A very moving biography of sickle cell disease and the quest for a cure. There are sobering and inspiring lessons to be learned from this book by all those involved in delivering molecular medicine today. – Dame Kay E. Davies, Professor of Anatomy Emeritus, University of Oxford
I couldn’t stop reading! Kevin Davies is an excellent science communicator. He provides context for the relationships and motivations of people I had previously known only as names to cite for scientific advances in genetics and medicine. The history of injustices in the care and research of sickle cell disease is presented accurately, alongside the excitement of seeing the field at the cutting edge of recent progress. – Lewis Hsu, Director, Pediatric Sickle Cell Hematology/Oncology, University of Illinois
Kevin Davies tells the scientific, clinical, commercial, and human stories behind gene therapy for sickle cell disease, and exposes the scientific and medical racism, inadequate systems of care, and market-driven drug development that have shaped care for patients and their families for so long. Curved Air captures the promise—and unfinished work—of providing molecular treatment for the first molecular disease. – Lydia H. Pecker, Director, Young Adult Clinic at the Sickle Cell Center for Adults, Johns Hopkins
It is hard to imagine a more interesting or compelling book about sickle cell disease. Kevin Davies reports on the research behind recent advances in treating this painful disease that destroys the lives of patients around the world, and he paints a fascinating account of the men and women whose dedication made progress possible. Davies’s talent as a true storyteller captures the despair and triumph of sickle cell patients day by day, revealing their tribulations better than any author has. Curved Air is a terrific book. – Barbara J. Culliton, Founding Editor-in-Chief, Nature Medicine

Kevin Davies is Executive Editor of The CRISPR Journal and founding editor of Nature Genetics. A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, he is the author or coauthor of Editing Humanity, Cracking the Genome, The $1,000 Genome, and DNA.

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