Ma Vie en Noir

CARDINALI DP

Springer-Verlag Gmbh

Año: 2016 p. 301

978-3-319-41679-3

I wrote this book urged by the overwhelming desire that arises towards the end of life torecapitulate the past. My goal was to summarize my experience of practicing science atthe end of the 20th and early 21st centuries in Argentina, a country located far away fromthe world?s leading scientific centers. In the book, I summarize the intricacies of the pinealgland (?the stone of madness?) as historical, mystical and medical entity and its entry incontemporary medicine with the description of melatonin. I also reflect on how beingassociated with an unexplored subject at the beginning of their scientific career impactsthe life of a scientist throughout their entire life. Today we know that in humans pinealmelatonin begins is released every day late in the evening, and there is evidence that it isthe trigger for the sleep process. But the most exciting aspect of melatonin is that it is asubstance that is present in all living creatures, from unicellular organisms to plants andhigher mammals, a fact that evinces its importance for life. Further, the neuroprotectiveaction of melatonin promises to be crucial for the control of neurodegenerative diseaseswe face as a pandemic in this century. The discoverer of melatonin, Aaron Lerner, basedits name on melano, the Greek word for black, because of its effect on the pigment cellsof the skin. As in " La vie en rose", the immortal Edith Piaf song written in 1946, my lifelongwork with melatonin could well be called " Ma vie en noir