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The Good Virus
The Untold Story of Phages: The Most Abundant Life Forms on Earth and What They Can Do For Us
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Format: Paperback / softback
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See moreThe untold story of the most abundant life form on Earth, bacteriophages, and how they play a crucial role in our lives, our health and the health of our planet.
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Description
CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 BY WATERSTONES AND THE TIMES
'Superb ... This is luxury-class science writing'
DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5* review
'One of the best books of any genre that I've read in 2023, this superbly-written book ... will fascinate absolutely everyone'
FORBES
'A delight. To learn more about phages is to discover fascinating details about a hidden world'
NATURE
Not all viruses are out to get us - in fact, the viruses that do us harm are vastly outnumbered by viruses that can actually save lives.
At every moment, within your body and all around you, trillions of microscopic combatants are fighting an invisible war. Countless times per second, 'good' viruses known as phages are infecting and destroying bacteria. These phages are the most abundant life form on the planet and have an incredible power to heal rather than harm. So why have most of us never even heard of them?
The Good Virus reveals how personalities, power and politics have repeatedly crashed together to hinder our understanding of these weird and wonderful life forms. We explore why Stalin's Soviet Union embraced using phages to fight disease but the rest of the world shunned the idea. We find out why scientists only recently realised phages are central to all ecosystems on Earth. And we meet the often eccentric phage heroes who have shaped the strange history of this field and are unlocking its exciting future.
Faced with the threat of antibiotic-resistance, we need phages now more than ever. The Good Virus celebrates what phages could do for us and our planet if they are at last given the attention they deserve.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
In this well-received work, Tom Ireland offers a compelling exploration of the role viruses play beyond their harmful stereotypes, particularly focusing on phages, which are beneficial viruses that attack bacteria. The book is praised for its engaging blend of science, history, and storytelling, presenting phage therapy as a promising solution to antibiotic resistance. Critics highlight its superb storytelling, rich detail, and the ability to make complex science accessible to both specialists and non-specialists, while also noting its timeliness given modern health challenges.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781529365252
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 29 June 2023
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton
Illustration: b/w line drawings
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 34.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 232.0mm
Weight: 480g
Pages: 400
Collections
About the Author
Tom Ireland is a freelance science journalist and award-winning magazine editor. Tom's passion for all things microscopic began with him hiding jars of mouldy food around the house as a young child. From microbes to mental health, biohacking to bioethics, Tom specialises in making difficult scientific topics accessible and fun to read. As a freelance journalist he has written science stories for outlets including BBC News, New Scientist and the Observer. He is the editor of The Biologist, the magazine of the Royal Society of Biology. In 2021 he won the Giles St Aubyn Award for Non-Fiction for The Good Virus.
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