Comments on: Book review – Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention

By: Book review – The Evolutionary Origins of Life and Death | The Inquisitive Biologist

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 15:37:29 +0000

[…] self-reinforcing cycles formed by molecules that can replicate both themselves and each other. Quasispecies: a mathematical construct where a species does not converge on a single genotype but forms a […]

LikeLike

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

Book review – Viruses: A Natural History | The Inquisitive Biologist — Tue, 23 May 2023 11:56:14 +0000

[…] was particularly fascinated by the role of viruses in evolution. I have written before about retroviruses, viruses that integrate themselves into the genetic […]

LikeLike

By: Book review – Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 26 Dec 2022 16:18:03 +0000

[…] reminded me of the concept of RNA viruses as quasispecies that Cordingley introduced in his book Viruses. The other point regards the uncooperativeness of the Chinese government. Is it not just as likely, […]

LikeLike

By: Book review – Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 11:02:41 +0000

[…] biology. Harper’s discussion of horizontal gene transfer, the mind-blowing concept of viral quasispecies, or the relentless nature of evolution shows he has read the relevant literature and can explain […]

LikeLike

By: Book review – A Planet of Viruses (Third Edition) | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:42:23 +0000

[…] immune system combats viruses and how rapid evolution means viruses and their hosts are locked in a perpetual arms race. But there is hope. The short history of smallpox introduces the important concepts of variolation […]

LikeLike

By: Book review – Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:59:23 +0000

[…] DNA can be neutered and repurposed, offering another option for rapid evolution (see my reviews of Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention and Discovering Retroviruses: Beacons in the Biosphere). We even have turned this into a powerful […]

LikeLike

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

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 12:20:58 +0000

[…] between DNA and RNA viruses, coronaviruses belonging to the latter. As highlighted in my review of Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention, single-stranded RNA lacks the error-correction mechanisms of DNA and is thus much more prone to […]

LikeLike

By: Book review – Discovering Retroviruses: Beacons in the Biosphere | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 14:39:01 +0000

[…] reviews as several authors have highlighted that retroviruses are something quite special (see e.g. Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention and Virusphere: From Common Colds to Ebola Epidemics: Why We Need the Viruses that Plague Us). […]

LikeLike

By: Book review – Virusphere: From Common Colds to Ebola Epidemics: Why We Need the Viruses that Plague Us | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 13 May 2019 08:56:56 +0000

[…] yes, that was the subtitle of Michael Cordingley’s book (see my review of Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention). With Virusphere, Ryan has written a book along largely the same lines, although it is a good deal […]

LikeLike

By: Book review – The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 12 Sep 2018 08:17:07 +0000

[…] At this point, you might shrug your shoulders. Tree, web, is it really a big deal? Well, yes, HGT has huge implications. It provides a mechanism for very rapid evolution, such as the spread of bacterial resistance to one or several antibiotics, which is ushering in a new public health crisis (see my review of Superbugs: An Arms Race Against Bacteria). These kinds of traits get exchanged between bacteria, but are also quickly transmitted through viruses that infect bacteria (see Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention). […]

LikeLike