A great many people have generously assisted in making this book possible, and to all of them I wish to express my sincerest thanks. I am especially indebted to Josh Boger, Tom Starzl, Stu Schreiber, and everyone at Vertex. Without their willingness to have me around, I’d have had no story.

At Vertex, I owe many thanks to Rich Aldrich, David and Sharon Armistead, Mike Badia, Cathy Beechinor, Dave Deininger, John Duffy, Laura Engle, Matt Fitzgibbon, Matt Harding, Jeremy Knowles, Grace Lee, Chris Lepre, Judy Lippke, Dave Livingston, Hal Meyers, Jon Moore, Mark Murcko, Manuel Navia, Patsi Nelson, Steve Park, Dave Pearlman, Debra Peattie, Brian Perry, Govinda Rao, Sergio Rotstein, Vicki Sato, Jeff Saunders, Nancy St. Clair, Nancy Stuart, John Thomson, Roger Tung, Al Vaz, and Mason Yamashita, all of whom spent considerable time with me, and to the original board of directors—Frank Bonsai, Bill Helman, Dan Gregory, Kevin Kinsella, and Benno Schmidt—who approved my being there. I am indebted especially to Mason Yamashita, who lent me his spare room on my visits to Cambridge.

In Pittsburgh, John Fung, Andy Tzakis, and Dave Van Thiel generously provided access to patient data and interceded for me with graft recipients and their families, who usually agreed to speak to me on short notice and in times of great distress, and were always helpful and inspiring.

Libraries and archives that provided me with invaluable resources were the Neilson and science libraries at Smith College, the Frost Library at Amherst, the Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke libraries, Forbes Library in Northampton, the University of Massachusetts central library, the University of Pennsylvania archives (where Gail Pietrzyk was especially helpful), the Center for the History of Chemistry, the Carnegie Institution, and the Library of Congress.

Steve Burakoff of Harvard Medical School, who introduced me to Josh Boger, was vital in helping me to get started. Dick Todd, former editor of New England Monthly, supported the project in its early stages, and his predecessor, Dan Okrent, was encouraging and full as ever of useful advice. I am also indebted to Bruce Weber, Katherine Bouton, and Jim Atlas of The New York Times Magazine. At Simon & Schuster, my editor Bob Bender has been a patient and sympathetic ally. My thanks also to his assistant, Johanna Li. My research assistant Portia Keating consistently did more than I asked. I am especially indebted to my agent, Amanda Urban, whose judgment and commitment sustained me throughout.

Finally, I am blessed with a fine and generous group of family and friends. I am immeasurably indebted to my parents, Hilda and Herb Werth; my sister, Susan Werth; and to my in-laws, Muriel and Phil Goos. Alan and Anita Sosne and Fred Eisenstein provided inspiration, moral support, and clips, as did Bill Newman. Kathy Whittemore and Stella Schwartz put me up. Bill McFeely, Jon Harr, and Anthony Giardina gave writers’ succor, encouragement, and an experienced ear. Joe Nocera did much work on early drafts of my manuscript and provided wise professional advice. My nine-year-old daughter, Emily, and six-year-old son, Alex, cheered me on with good nature, faith, and acceptance, more than I often was able to summon in return, and I am indebted for their understanding attempts to keep it down. As always, my wife, Kathy Goos, made—and makes—everything possible. Her suggestions were invaluable and her patience, often sorely tested by my travel and other, less explicable lapses, unstinting.

I regret that there may be people I’ve forgotten, or omissions. Whatever shortcomings they reflect are, of course, my own.