No Ordinary Mike : Michael Smith, Nobel Laureate

The extraordinary story of Michael Smith, a man who rose from humble beginnings in Blackpool, England, to become a revolutionary gene researcher, philanthropist and Nobel Prize winner. A professor at the University of British Columbia, Smith dedicated his talent and energy to science research, and later launched the university's internationally regarded Biotechnology Laboratory. The authors present not only the career and science of a great Canadian scientist, but also the politics and personalities of university research.

Eric Damer is an historian with a particular interest in the ways in which university research and education influence the community. The author of Discovery by Design (Ronsdale, 2002), he makes his home in Vancouver, BC.

Caroline Astell, now Professor Emerita of Biochemistry, knew Michael Smith for 35 years, first working with him for her PhD and then as a research colleague. In 2002, she joined the BC Cancer Agency’s Genome Science Centre and was on the team that decoded the SARS genome.