title: Until the lab takes it away from epidemiology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is proposed that, historically, when the conditions are right for laboratory sciences to contribute to causal knowledge, they take the place of epidemiology as leaders in a given field.
  
  
  METHODS
  Review examples of cholera, pellagra, and Kaposi's sarcoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the cases of cholera, pellagra, and Kaposi's sarcoma, epidemiology ceased to be at the forefront of knowledge acquisition when laboratory sciences identified more proximate causes than those that epidemiologic group comparisons could reveal.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These three examples deal with diseases, which, at the individual level, appear to rely predominantly on a single factor. For diseases whose causes still elude specific identification by the laboratory sciences, epidemiology may be uniquely equipped to play a leading role.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, Queens College, City University of New York, USA. mcostanz@uvm.edu
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morabia
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D015984:Causality; D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D004813:Epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D010383:Pellagra / Q000453:epidemiology; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000453:epidemiology