Viruses are the last frontier of undiscovered life on our planet. The most abundant type of organism on Earth, they infect all types of cellular life, and, as micro-organisms that cause disease in their hosts, they are highly opportunistic and relentlessly efficient. They exist at the vanguard of DNA variance, exhibiting more structural diversity than plants, animals, archaea, or even bacteria. This 21st-century guide offers an engaging introductory section explaining exactly what viruses are and how they operate, followed by individual profiles of 101 of the world’s most notable examples, each with its own dazzling mugshot
Sobre o autor
Dr Marilyn J Roossinck is Professor of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, and Biology at the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Penn State University, she is also the Sir Walter Adjunct Professor at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. She has been awarded over $10 million in research funding, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. She has served as a councilor for the American Society for Virology and was nominated for president of the society. Dr Roossinck has published a large number of scientific papers, and writes for
Nature magazine,
Microbiology Today, and other popular science publications. She edited
Plant Virus Evolution (Springer, 2008), the first book ever published on the subject.