Medical History in FredCoBio

I attended a networking event at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine last night hosted by the Fort Detrick Alliance.  Something George Lewis said in his introductory remarks made me think about the links to this museum, Frederick City & Fort Detrick in general and Biotechnology in Frederick County.  As they state on their web site “knowledge that Civil War medicine connects us not only to our past, but is the scientific and historical link to our present and our future.”

So many of the modern medical practices arose from the necessities of the injured and dying soldiers during the Civil War.  And also Veterinary care for the injured and dying Horses and pack animals, that by some estimates sustained nearly twice the casualties that humans did during the civil war.  And for Frederick specifically, the proximity to some of the bloodiest battles in the conflict, namely Gettysburg and Antietam,

"The Harvest of Death": Union dead on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, photographed July 5 or July 6, 1863, by Timothy H. O'Sullivan.

converting the town into one massive hospital where many of these new medical remedies were tried for the first time.

Now we have Ft. Detrick, home to the Army’s Medical Research groups (in general terms).  And home now to the new Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine , at least U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) side of the Institute.

Just my thought of the day.  If you haven’t been there the museum is a quick tour and well worth the price of admission.