This document summarizes a book review of "Viruses and Interferon: Current Research". The review provides the following key points: - The book covers the fundamentals of the biological and mechanistic complexities of the interferon system and how interferons are induced and signal to induce antiviral proteins. - Each topic is discussed by experts in 10 chapters, though there are some redundancies between chapters. - The individual chapters are high quality and self-sufficient, but an introductory chapter providing an overview would have been helpful for uninitiated readers. - The first chapter introduces double-stranded RNA as an important regulator of immunity. The next three chapters thoroughly address how the

1. www.thelancet.com/infection Vol 11 August 2011 593
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A Planet ofViruses
By Carl Zimmer. University of
Chicago Press, 2011. Pp 104.
£13·00. ISBN 9780226983356
Books
A planet of viruses
The fever subsides, to the relief of the patient. But then
a rash appears, quickly spreading across their body. The
macules become raised papules, which then fill with a
turbid fluid and become vesicular. Pustules form, and
fever returns once again. Finally, the fluid is absorbed
and the fever disappears, but the scars that remain are an
indelible reminder of this relentless disease—smallpox;
a disease which had claimed the lives of hundreds of
millions of people over the course of human history.
However, on May 8, 1980, The World Health Assembly
heralded one of the greatest achievements in public
health, the eradication of smallpox.
A contagious fear pervades the public perception
of viruses, and rightly so, because they cause many
serious diseases; but they are not all bad. In A Planet
of Viruses Carl Zimmer seeks to convey this message,
elegantly communicating the history of viruses, their
symbiotic relation with life, and their influence on
mankind’s development.
Immediately inviting the reader into an untouched
subterranean world, like a vision from Jules Verne’s Journey
to the Centre of the Earth, Zimmer guides us to the cave of
crystals, a chamber containing gargantuan crystals of
gypsum. Isolated from the outside world for millions of
years, and seemingly devoid of life, scientists examined
the water that filled this pristine environment and to
their amazement they discovered a wealth of viruses.
Underground, underwater, and even in our DNA, Zimmer
continually astonishes by revealing the omnipresence
of viruses.
The dichotomy between viruses’ capacity for creating
life (eg, a human endogenous retrovirus gene codes for
a protein vital to the development of the placenta) and
causingdeathpresentedinthisbookprovidesanalternative
perspective.As Zimmer explains, eventhe etymology ofthe
word virus reflects this contradiction: derived from Latin, it
meant the semen of a man or the venom of a snake. We
commonly view viruses and other pathogens as our enemy,
as organisms that threaten our existence. However, in view
of their role in training our immune systems (eg, mild colds
caused by rhinoviruses), Zimmer suggests that they might
instead be “wise old tutors”.
A Planet of Viruses arouses curiosity with fantastical tales,
such as that of the mythical Jackalope (actually a rabbit
with horns formed by papillomaviruses), bold hypotheses
(eg, that DNA evolved as a way to protect viral genes),
and astounding figures (eg, about 1×10²⁹ viruses roam the
oceans), all of which are reinforced by a solid foundation of
scientific research, made accessible by a selected reference
list. Although this book is short (about a hundred pages),
the controversial questions posed and the fascinating
subjects explored evoke a thirst for knowledge that leaves
the reader craving more.
Mario Christodoulou
mario.christodoulou@lancet.com
Viruses and interferon: current research
Interferon, the first member of the large cytokine family
of potent biologically active proteins to be identified,
was discovered 55 years ago as a chemical produced
by virus-infected cells that could protect neighbouring
uninfected cells from new infection. Viruses and Interferon:
Current Research should assist practising virologists
and immunologists and senior trainees to grasp the
fundamentals of the biological and the mechanistic
complexities of the interferon system. Induced synthesis
of interferon and its method of antiviral actions are
biologically related but mechanistically distinct subjects,
both of which are addressed in this book in ten chapters
written by ten groups of authors. Consequently, every
topic is discussed by experts in their subject, but (as is
customary with such formats) there are redundancies and
imbalances between the different chapters. In retrospect,
an introductory chapter would have been useful for the
uninitiated reader to have an overview of the whole
interferon system and point out the main conceptual
landmarks of acquired knowledge and questions that
remain to be answered. The individual chapters are self
sufficient and mostly of excellent quality.
The first chapter introduces double-stranded RNA as
an important regulator of immunity and will be a useful
source of information for all. The next three chapters
address different core aspects of the interferon system
and are uniformly informative and of high quality. The
authors discuss clearly how type I and type III interferons
are induced, how they signal to induce antiviral proteins,
and how they function. One wonders why type II interferon
was ignored, despite its antiviral effects that overlap with
those of type I interferon and its status as an essential
component of our immune system.
The subsequent five chapters are about the role of the
interferon system in the context of specific viruses or
virus families (herpes simplex, pox, haemorrhagic fever,
Viruses and Interferon:
Current Research
Edited by Karen Mossman.
Caister Academic Press, 2011.
Pp 265. £159.
ISBN 987-1-904455-81-3