Murder in the Lab

Murder in the Lab by Leonid Heifets is a tale of international mystery. Individuals of diverse personalities and backgrounds turn haggard and peeved, owing to the exhausting daily laboratory routine and intrigue. Jealousy, envy, and sexual hookups are not unusual occurrences in this setting.

In the span of five months, there have been two deaths. To whom or to what can these deaths be attributed? Could they be the result of infighting among the employees? Are the deaths related to the development of new genetic methods that may transform medicine, with the potential for huge commercial success?

The stakes are high-advanced diagnosis and prediction of illnesses before they occur, and above all, life-saving gene therapy. Investigators from the police and FBI must also be on guard for espionage, since the same genetics mastery can be used to develop biological weapons.

Two deaths have forced those working in the lab to reexamine their relationships.

About the Author

Leonid Heifets, M.D., Ph.D., Sc.D., is Professor Emeritus, Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, in Denver, Colorado. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in tuberculosis. After thirty-three years of service at National Jewish Health, in 2012 he retired from his position professor and director of one of the largest TB reference laboratories. Prior to employment at National Jewish, he worked as a physician, epidemiologist, and microbiologist in Russia.

He is a recipient of two Lifetime Achievement Awards--one from National Jewish Health Faculty, and the other from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases. Dr. Heifets has authored more than 200 scientific publications in the fields of epidemiology and microbiology of infectious diseases, and has recently written three books addressed to the general public.

(2014, Paperback, 132 pages)