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Virusphere : from common colds to Ebola epidemics / Frank Ryan.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Guilford, Connecticut : Prometheus Books, [2019]Copyright date: ©2019Description: 278 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781633886049
  • 1633886042
  • 9780008296704
  • 0008296707
Subject(s):
Contents:
What are viruses? -- Coughs and sneezes spread diseases -- A plague upon a plague -- Every parent's nightmare -- A bug versus a virus -- A coincidental paralysis -- Deadly viruses -- An all-American plague -- Lurker viruses -- How flue viruses reinvent themselves -- A lesson from a Machiavellian virus -- The mystery of Ebola -- The Mercurial nature of the Zika virus -- A taste for the liver -- Warts and all -- Lilliputian giants -- Are viruses alive? -- Inspiring terror, and delight -- The ecology of the oceans -- The virosphere -- The origins of the Placental mammals -- Viruses in the origins of life -- The fourth domain?
Summary: "A fascinating and long overdue examination of viruses from what they are and what they do, to the vital role they have played in human history. What are viruses? Do they rely on genes, like all other forms of life? Do they follow the same patterns of evolution as plants and animals? Frank Ryan answers these questions and many more in a sweeping tour of illnesses caused by viruses. For example, the common cold, measles, chicken pox, herpes and mumps, rubella, as well as less familiar examples, such as rabies, 'breakbone' fever, haemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, and virus-induced cancers. Along the way, readers will learn about the behaviours and ultimate goals of viruses, gaining a deeper understanding of their importance in relation to the origins and the evolution of life, as well as they ways viruses have changed us at the most intimate level, to help make us quintessentially human." -- (Source of summary not specified)
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 616.91 R988 Available 33111009819034
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 616.91 R988 Checked out 06/29/2024 33111009636487
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 616.91 R988 Available 33111009005923
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A fascinating and long overdue examination of viruses - from what they are and what they do, to the vital role they have played in human history.

What are viruses? Do they rely on genes, like all other forms of life? Do they follow the same patterns of evolution as plants and animals?

Dr. Frank Ryan answers these questions and many more in a sweeping tour of illnesses caused by viruses. He examines the common cold, measles, chicken pox, herpes, mumps, and rubella, as well as less familiar maladies, such as rabies, "breakbone fever," hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, and virus-induced cancers. Along the way, readers will learn about the behaviors of viruses and what drives them to infect a human host. Ryan explains the role of viruses in the evolution of life, revealing how viruses have changed us at the most intimate level, helping to make us quintessentially human.

"Originally published in the English language by Williams Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd., 2019" -- title verso.

"Why we need the viruses that plague us" -- Book jacket.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What are viruses? -- Coughs and sneezes spread diseases -- A plague upon a plague -- Every parent's nightmare -- A bug versus a virus -- A coincidental paralysis -- Deadly viruses -- An all-American plague -- Lurker viruses -- How flue viruses reinvent themselves -- A lesson from a Machiavellian virus -- The mystery of Ebola -- The Mercurial nature of the Zika virus -- A taste for the liver -- Warts and all -- Lilliputian giants -- Are viruses alive? -- Inspiring terror, and delight -- The ecology of the oceans -- The virosphere -- The origins of the Placental mammals -- Viruses in the origins of life -- The fourth domain?

"A fascinating and long overdue examination of viruses from what they are and what they do, to the vital role they have played in human history. What are viruses? Do they rely on genes, like all other forms of life? Do they follow the same patterns of evolution as plants and animals? Frank Ryan answers these questions and many more in a sweeping tour of illnesses caused by viruses. For example, the common cold, measles, chicken pox, herpes and mumps, rubella, as well as less familiar examples, such as rabies, 'breakbone' fever, haemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, and virus-induced cancers. Along the way, readers will learn about the behaviours and ultimate goals of viruses, gaining a deeper understanding of their importance in relation to the origins and the evolution of life, as well as they ways viruses have changed us at the most intimate level, to help make us quintessentially human." -- (Source of summary not specified)

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