Comments on: Book review – A Planet of Viruses (Third Edition)

By: Book review – Infinite Life: A Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution and Life on Earth | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 22 May 2024 11:56:49 +0000

[…] Other aspects evolved in tandem with eggs, and Howard touches on sexual reproduction (a costly endeavour that nevertheless has some critical advantages), sperm, a bewildering assortment of male genitalia that deliver sperm near eggs before the female wraps the egg in an impenetrable shell, and the placenta in those organisms that develop their egg cells internally. Especially that last organ, the placenta, is a bizarre evolutionary invention when you consider it. Embryos invade maternal tissue to aggressively obtain resources needed for growth, while mothers try to balance between providing for their developing offspring and somewhat inhibiting their demands. The real kicker in this story? The protein that allows maternal and placental cells to fuse originated in retroviruses. […]

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By: Book review – Viruses: A Natural History | The Inquisitive Biologist

Book review – Viruses: A Natural History | The Inquisitive Biologist — Tue, 23 May 2023 11:56:26 +0000

[…] and given the fundamental molecular level at which they operate, viruses have inserted themselves everywhere in our biosphere. Some of the intricacies of their interactions boggle the mind. The chapters in this book alternate […]

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By: Book review – Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive | The Inquisitive Biologist

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 11:58:32 +0000

[…] can be revived from lifeless states after decades, a phenomenon known as cryptobiosis. Viruses, Zimmer’s speciality, are generally considered non-living. And what of red blood cells? They contain no DNA. One fish […]

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By: Book review – How to Make a Vaccine: An Essential Guide for COVID-19 & Beyond | The Inquisitive Biologist

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:00:19 +0000

[…] to combat smallpox, and the 1950s race for a polio vaccine between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin. Or the bizarre history of the 19th-century maritime expeditions to distribute the first vaccines around the world, keeping […]

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By: Book review – Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 15:46:08 +0000

[…] not a popular science book such as, say, A Planet of Viruses, Cordingley nevertheless provides an up-to-date and detailed account of the evolutionary power and […]

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By: Book review – Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 15:41:53 +0000

[…] everywhere: some speak of the virosphere rather than the biosphere, while Carl Zimmer calls ours a planet of viruses. Of the Ebola virus, Quammen writes that it “is not in your habitat. You are in its.” […]

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