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They are everywhere

A Planet of viruses

Learning to identify viruses and how they thrive has not been easy for scientists. Author Carl Zimmer has given the scientists their due by explaining how they went about finding odd things and trying to understand them. He also gives due Respect to viruses for their part in photosynthesis and in fusion of a part of the fertilised egg with placenta.

Rhinovirus, Flu, HPV, SARS, West Nile virus and the eradicated smallpox. We hear of these outbreaks in newspapers. In the book, the author presents a history of the source of the viruses, medical efforts in their identification and found ways of subsiding them.

I first heard of the Tree man in Medical mysteries. It long skipped my brain that it was caused by a virus and the tree man's immune system couldnt handle it. In this case, the author starts with a myth of rabbits spotted with horns and how it has been debunked with virology.

Then there is the phages, retroviruses phase which will interest virology students more but the book still is easy to understand all through even for the non-medical readers.

Largest virus - Mimivirus

Vaccine - a plug for a specific hole

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