Linus Pauling's “molecular diseases”: Between history and memory

In 1949, Linus Pauling and his collaborators published a study in the journal Science entitled “Sickle Cell Anemia, a Molecular Disease.” In this now classic study, they showed that hemoglobin from patients suffering from sickle cell anemia has a different electrical charge than hemoglobin from healthy individuals. This result demonstrated for the first time that an abnormal protein could be causally linked to a disease, and that genes determined the structure of proteins. This report made headline news and had a powerful impact on both the biomedical community and the general public. Fifty years later, this study is discussed in almost every medical and biological textbook and has became a favorite example in editorials to illustrate the progress of biomedical research. This article explores the history of Pauling's sickle cell anemia and its subsequent integration in different collective memories, up to the present day. It also discusses the function of the collective memories of Pauling's discovery for contemporary biomedical research. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.