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How Pathogenic Viruses Work

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I'm the guy who wrote this book. I thought it might useful to tell you a little about what's in it -- and why I wrote it.

There are many books which employ viruses as tools to teach molecular and cellular biology. This makes sense. A lot of what we know about these subjects was learned by observing how viruses usurp the biochemical machinery of their host cells. However, these texts tend to treat viruses as bit players, focusing mainly on the cells they inhabit. Consequently, such a book can teach you a lot about cell biology, but it usually won't give you much insight into the "mind of the virus." In How Pathogenic Viruses Work, the virus occupies center stage, because my goal is to give you an overall picture of virus-host interactions from the point of view of the virus.

There are also big, heavy books that seem to contain every possible detail about every virus in the universe. These texts are great for reference, but they give the impression that viruses are incredibly complicated and almost impossible to understand. In fact, viruses are quite simple. They really only know how to solve three problems, and the diseases viral infections cause are the consequences -- frequently the unintended consequences -- of the different ways viruses solve these problems.

How Pathogenic Viruses Work is written in the form of "lectures," because I want to talk to you directly, just as if we were together in a classroom. In this book, I focus on the important concepts, and leave out as much detail as possible. I also limit my discussion to viruses that cause diseases in humans. Lord knows, there are plenty of them, and to me (and probably to you), these viruses are really the most interesting ones.

Your professor may use this book as the core text for a course, supplementing these lectures with fascinating facts about his or her favorite viruses. Alternatively, your professor may use this book as a course preview, both to provide you with a global view of how pathogenic viruses work, and to give you "pegs" on which to hang more detail as the course progresses.

But no matter how your professor may choose to use this book, you should keep one thing in mind: I didn't write this book for your professor. This book's for you!

I'll admit to being intimidated by a book titled "How Pathogenic Viruses Work." Being a well educated layman more attuned to marketing than medicine, I expected to be completely lost while reading about the various bugs that invade our bodies and how the body calls to battle its natural defenses.

However, I was rescued by some of the best writing and the most logical presentation I have ever read. This is no small claim as I have published over 150 articles for high tech magazines covering some very detailed topics in computing. My hat is off to Sompayrac for communicating complex topics in a style that is both clear and entertaining.

Sompayrac organized his book in the very way I would want to study the subject. His opening chapters (which he calls "lectures") deal with the way viruses "think" and the three basic problems that all viruses must address in order to survive. Sompayrac's explanations bring home the mechanics of Darwinism that viruses face when invading our bodies or breading themselves in cross-species transplants.

Sompayrac then discusses how viruses enter our bodies (inhalation, orally, through birth and through sex) and why each path has its advantages for specific viruses. For each entry method, Sompayrac discusses three unique viruses and how they conquered the problems of replication, spreading and evasion of host defenses. Sompayrac finishes the book by discussing the tactics that modern medicine is employing or testing to combat viruses. The discussion of tactics and their usefulness or dangerousness in regard to HIV is most illuminating.

Unique to this work - and hopefully for Sompayrac's other books including a rumored book on cancer - is his light, almost playful style of writing that keeps the reader riveted to the discussion despite the occasional need to drill down into medical jargon. Despite being only a layman limited by a typical array of college biology electives, I read, understood and enjoyed the entire book. I walked away with new insights into the miracles of life - ours and those microscopic life forms that occasionally try to kill us.

Had I encountered this book in high school or college I suspect I would have changed my major from technical and business realms to medicine and virology. Sompayrac's insights show these worlds to be compelling, intricate and violent places where the very fate of mankind may lay.

In an age with threats of bioterrorism and the ever present threat of global pandemics, with the rapid growth in knowledge in the biological sciences, it is difficult if not nearly impossible to fathom what is going on. Several years ago I decided to educate myself in the areas of molecular biology, immunology, and infectious disease. My only formal training in the biological sciences was high school biology from over 40 years ago. I read articles in Scientific American, Discover Magazine, numerous books, both textbooks and popular books, and found myself not seeing the forest for the trees. Then I found Dr. Sompayrac's books, "How the immune system works," and "How pathogenic viruses work." My usual words of praise are "not bad," but in the case of these books, I have to say "excellent." Dr. Sompayrac somehow manages to present the forest without neglecting the trees in a highly entertaining, readable, and informative manner. Both books are short, but rich in content presented in a well-organized manner with appropriately placed brief reviews. After reading his books, I then went back to some of the others and found that everything just fell into place.

I have already recommended both to numerous friends. Not only should these books be read by any lay person interested in modern biology, infectious diseases, and immunology, but public health workers, high school teachers, undergraduate students and teachers should all find these books worth reading and using as references. I actually wrote to Dr. Sompayrac suggesting he follow up with a book on "How pathogenic bacteria work," and I can only hope that he does.

This book does not bury you in terminology. It focuses exclusively on a specific set of pathogenic viruses that affect humans rather than trying to cover the whole spectrum. I learned more easily from, and enjoyed this far more, than I do standard textbooks. Another plus, an educated layman will be able to understand this book, it's informative but it really is written to be clear. I absolutely love this book and highly recommend it for biology students who want some supplementary study in a format that isn't tedious, or for people who are just curious about the subject.

How Pathogenic Viruses Work

What a wonderful read! Outstanding introduction to exactly how viruses work. A perfect introduction to virology. Wish I read it before I majored in the field. Highly recommended!

I have read this book at least two times so far- always learning something new. He is an incredibly clear writer who is able to make sense out of many confusing topics. I teach Anatomy and Physiology, this book is a constant reference for me both in content and in how to teach about viral infections.

His other 2 books are equally valuable!

I found her book an excellent addition to my personal library and now plan on reading her book on the immune system. It may have lacked the genetics and cellular biology of more technical works; this made it a much more enjoyable read, without losing important information.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF VIRUSES AND HAVE NOT STUDIED RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GENETICS THIS BOOK WILL BE OF GREAT INTEREST TO YOU; EVEN IF YOU HAVE TAKEN SOME GENETIC STUDIES THE BOOK IS VERY MUCH A WORTH WHILE READ!