More than any other altruistic gesture, blood and organ donation exemplifies the true spirit of self-sacrifice. Donors literally give of themselves for no reward so that the life of an individual--often anonymous--may be spared. But as the demand for blood and organs has grown, the value of a system that depends solely on gifts has been called into question, and the possibility has surfaced that donors might be supplemented or replaced by paid suppliers.
"Last Best Gifts" offers a fresh perspective on this ethical dilemma by examining the social organization of blood and organ donation in Europe and the United States. Gifts of blood and organs are not given everywhere in the same way or to the same extent--contrasts that allow Kieran Healy to uncover the pivotal role that institutions play in fashioning the contexts for donations. Procurement organizations, he shows, sustain altruism by providing opportunities to give and by producing public accounts of what giving means. In the end, Healy suggests, successful systems rest on the fairness of the exchange, rather than the purity of a donor's altruism or the size of a financial incentive.

Biomedical scientists are the foundation of modern healthcare, from cancer screening to diagnosing HIV, from blood transfusion for surgery to food poisoning and infection control. Without biomedical scientists, the diagnosis of disease, the evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment, and research into the causes and cures of disease would not be possible. The Fundamentals of Biomedical Science series has been written to reflect the challenges of practicing biomedical science today. It draws together essential basic science with insights into laboratory practice to show how an understanding of the biology of disease is coupled to the analytical approaches that lead to diagnosis. Assuming only a minimum of prior knowledge, the series reviews the full range of disciplines to which a Biomedical Scientist may be exposed-from microbiology to cytopathology to transfusion science. The science of transfusion and transplantation demands a multifaceted understanding of immunology, haematology, and genetics from the biomedical scientist. Transfusion and Transplantation Science synthesizes the essential concepts of these subjects and presents them within the practical framework of the hospital banking and transplantation centre, providing you with the knowledge and skills to specialize in this discipline.

Organ transplantation has revolutionized the treatment for end-stage organ failure. Immunosuppression is still a major approach currently used in the prevention and treatment of allograft rejection. Both editors Dr. Chen and Dr. Qian have been contributing to preclinical evaluation of immunosuppressants for more than 25 years in North America. Experts from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Hungary and Brazil contributed 23 chapters to this book, providing details of immunological basis in transplantation. They also describe six classes of immunosuppressive agents (calcineurin inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, JAK-STAT inhibitors, antiproliferative agents, costimulation blockers and corticosteroids), as well as ischemia/reperfusion injury treated agents. Additionally, the new development of cell therapy in the induction of transplant tolerance is introduced. This book provides many important references for the research direction of novel immunosuppressants. Readers that will find this book useful include transplant physicians, surgeons, nurses, immunologists, pharmacologists, pharmacists, medical students, residents and trainees in transplantation.