Edited by
Esteban Domingo, Centro de Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain
Robert Webster, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A.
John Holland, University of California, San Diego, U.S.A.
Description
Are infectious diseases caused by novel entities, viruses that have rapidly evolved into more pathogenic forms, or viruses that have crossed
species divides and become more virulent in their alternative host? These questions and how new diseases such as AIDS emerged have prompted
renewed interest in the ways viruses originated and co-evolved with their hosts.
Origin and Evolution of Viruses presents
a full and clear description of general viral concepts and specific viral systems, and provides an excellent foundation to our understanding
of how viruses emerged.
This unique and comprehensive work is essential reading for all researchers in virology, molecular biology and
related areas, as well as evolutionary biologists interested in phylogenetic approaches to molecular evolution. The reader is taken on
an illumination journey--in time and concepts--from the first primitive replicons to their present-day complex viral counterparts.
Apart from the obvious interest, as humans are potential hosts for these viruses, there is also a great deal of academic interest in
the evolutionary aspects of this simple group of organisms, since information can be gained about the origin of stains/species and evolutionary
patterns that might be applicable to higher species.
Audience:
Researchers in virology, molecular biology, and evolutionary biology interested in phylogenetic approaches to molecular evolution.
