As usual, I am a little behind in my musings on famous dates in medical history. On Sept 1, 1858, Gray’s Anatomy first appeared in print. And no, I am not talking about the TV show, unless some of you think that the ladies and blokes living in Victorian England had television sets–and the electricity to power them.

It is interesting how famous this textbook is, considering that it contains no explosions, wanton sex, infidelity, murder, incest….well, you get the idea. The book was first published under the title Gray’s Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical in Great Britain in 1858, and the following year in the United States. Dr. Henry Gray, a lecturer in anatomy St. George’s Hospital Medical School in London, spent much of his career writing anatomical essays on various parts of the body. I guess he didn’t get out much.

In 1855 he approached his colleague Dr Henry Vandyke Carter with his idea to produce an anatomy text book for medical students, and so, Dr. Gray went to work, never dreaming that his book would soon become better known as a silly medical TV soap. Did I say silly? Sorry, don’t mean to insult viewers, but I find nearly all medical “dramas” to be more of the making of Hollywood than real life.

The final product was a culmination of all his previous works, but unfortunately, Dr. Gray’s time on earth ended in 1861, only three years after the publication of his masterpiece. He contracted smallpox, shortly after he was promoted to the position of assistant surgeon at St. George’s. Poor Dr. Gray was only 34 years old, and smallpox was a dreadful way to die. Interestingly, the smallpox vaccine had been perfected over 60 years earlier, in 1796 by Edward Jenner, so you may wonder why a physician did not avail himself of it. If he had, Dr. Gray may have lived on to see his book become a classic in its own time.

The latest edition of Gray’s Anatomy is the 39th edition, published on November 25, 2004 in the UK and November 24, 2004 in the U.S., which is also available in CD-ROM format. Naturally, knowledge of human anatomy has expanded since Gray’s time, so the big has grown and blossomed.

….have come upon us.

Many of the most important concerns about the proliferation of contaminated, oops, I mean genetically engineered food that have been voiced by people with some degree of intellect have unfortunately come to pass. Like these…

USDA ANNOUNCES U.S. RICE SUPPLY HAS BEEN CONTAMINATED

USDA Secretary Mike Johanns has announced that domestic and export stocks of long grain rice has been contaminated by a genetically engineered variety of rice that is not approved for human consumption. Johanns said that the contamination was admitted to be the fault of Bayer Corporation, but the USDA doesn’t know how widespread the contamination is. According to Johanns the biotech rice poses no health risks, but could damage the U.S. $1 billion rice export market, since many nations refuse to import genetically engineered rice. Japan has already announced a ban on long grain rice imports from the US. Last year, Japan and the EU banned US corn imports as a result of yet another GE contamination scandal.

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And this one…

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED “FRANKENGRASS” SPREADS INTO THE WILD

An experimental variety of genetically engineered bentgrass has escaped from its test plot in Oregon and has been found growing in the wild as far as three miles away, according to scientists from the U.S. EPA. The biotech plant, designed for golf courses, has not been approved by the USDA, but has already been found dispersing among native grasses in six different locations. Scientists say they don’t know how will behave in the wild but admit it may have a strong advantage over native grasses, and could therefore irreversibly damage the ecosystem as it spreads. According to Tom Stohlgren, an ecologist at the US Geological Survey’s National Institute of Invasive Species Science, the experimental bentgrass “can tend to outcompete other species…It doesn’t need to sexually reproduce – it’s like The Blob. It could potentially hit rare species or national parks.”

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