Wine and Blood: An Unlikely Pairing

"26 short chapters based on 'Invited Editorials' published in the journal Bone Marrow Transplantation. They highlight a wide spectrum of unexpected connections between wine and blood. They are written in a light hearted and informative style avoiding jargon. Topics covered include everything from the random inactivation of the X chromosome to DNA and wine and cataracts and wine. The book is completely referenced and contains a number of colour prints, many of which were photographed by the author."
Shaun R. McCann

Professor Emeritus of Haematology and Academic Medicine, St James' Hospital and Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Medical Director of the National Blood Transfusion Service 1995-1996 by invitation of the Minister of Health. Performed the first successful bone marrow transplant for leukaemia in Ireland in 1984. Author of > 200 medical articles, numerous book chapters and 5 books. He wrote a monthly wine article for the Irish Medical Times for 18 years.


"I am honored to have played a small role in the development of this highly informative and entertaining book that links the two (apparently) unrelated disciplines of wine and hematology.
Professor Shaun McCann’s book, ‘Wine and Blood: An Unlikely Pairing’, has its roots in an exchange between me and Professor Robert Peter Gale, my long-time colleague and friend. Bob approached me to consider having McCann, an expert in hematopoietic cell transplantation as well as oenology, publish short essays in Bone Marrow Transplantation every month. It took some doing to get my attention, but once I read few of Professor McCann’s engaging pieces, I was hooked. His knowledge of history, “the classics”, hematology and the study of wine are second to none.
The Journal then continued to receive many flattering endorsements of his work. By the time he wrote more than a dozen articles, I began pushing for a compilation of his work in a short book. Despite a number of hurdles that finally have been overcome, here is the result. I hope you enjoy the stories and amazing descriptions of the similarities and inter-relationships between hematology and wine. Please feel free to share this book with family, friends, and colleagues.

Hillard M. Lazarus,
Editor-in-Chief, Bone Marrow Transplantation.


"Shaun McCann has been the Director of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation in Dublin, St James Hospital, (for over 3 decades). He is an internationally renowned hematologist, currently involved in the Educational Program of the European Hematology Association (EHA). Professor McCann is also an expert on wine, certainly fostered by many years spent in Toscana, Italy, the land where the grape Sangiovese grows, to produce my favourite wine, Brunello di Montalcino.This Book will take you on an unexpected trip, to places where you will discover what Blood and Wine have in common, genetics, stem cells, selection, and beauty. It is a selection of Editorials Professor McCann has written over the years: they combine science, observations, mixed with an Irish wit, which will always keep you smiling."

Andrea Bacigalupo
Head of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation
Policlinico Gemelli
Catholic University
Rome- Italy