Intrinsic Factors

The haematology and clinical investigation at Boston City Hospital by Dr W.B. Castle (1897-1990) has been seen to have played a major role in the emergence of haematology as a scientific discipline in the first half of the 20th century. It is also believed to have been instrumental in establishing the reputation of the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory and the Harvard Medical Unit at Boston City Hospital. In this comprehensive biography of Dr Castle, Anand Karnad highlights the golden age of medicine and haematology in Boston. He details Castle's early experiments that solved the puzzle of pernicious anemia and were the building blocks for a series of experiments on that particular disease, as well as the contributions to: haemoglobin physiology, mechanisms of haemolysis, splenic function, and sickle cell anemia made by Castle and his group.