Harnessing the Power of Viruses explores the application of scientific knowledge about viruses and their lives to solve practical challenges and further advance molecular sciences, medicine and agriculture. The book contains virus-based tools and approaches in the fields of: i) DNA manipulations in vitro and in vivo; ii) Protein expression and characterization; and iii) Virus- Host interactions as a platform for therapy and biocontrol are discussed. It steers away from traditional views of viruses and technology, focusing instead on viral molecules and molecular processes that enable science to better understand life and offer means for addressing complex biological phenomena that positively influence everyday life. The book is written at an intermediate level and is accessible to novices who are willing to acquire a basic level of understanding of key principles in molecular biology, but is also ideal for advanced readers interested in expanding their biological knowledge to include practical applications of molecular tools derived from viruses. Explores virus-based tools and approaches in DNA manipulation, protein expression and characterization and virus-host interactions Provides a dedicated focus on viral molecules and molecular processes that enable science to better understand life and address complex biological phenomena Includes an overview of modern technologies in biology that were developed using viral components/elements and knowledge about viral processes

The past decade has witnessed an explosion of information on the molecular biology of insect viruses and a frenzy of activity in applying this information to medicine and agriculture. Genetically engineered baculoviruses are presently being tested for commercial use as pesticides, and the study of such viruses is also revealing remarkable insights into basic cellular processes such as apoptosis. This comprehensive volume provides readers with knowledge of basic and applied baculovirology so that current literature in the field can be appreciated.

Examining the enormous potential of microbiome manipulation to improve health Associations between the composition of the intestinal microbiome and many human diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer, have been elegantly described in the past decade. Now, whole-genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and precision gene-editing techniques are being combined with centuries-old therapies, such as fecal microbiota transplantation, to translate current research into new diagnostics and therapeutics to treat complex diseases. Bugs as Drugs provides a much-needed overview of microbes in therapies and will serve as an excellent resource for scientists and clinicians as they carry out research and clinical studies on investigating the roles the microbiota plays in health and disease. In Bugs as Drugs, editors Robert A. Britton and Patrice D. Cani have assembled a fascinating collection of reviews that chart the history, current efforts, and future prospects of using microorganisms to fight disease and improve health. Sections cover traditional uses of probiotics, next-generation microbial therapeutics, controlling infectious diseases, and indirect strategies for manipulating the host microbiome. Topics presented include: How well-established probiotics support and improve host health by improving the composition of the intestinal microbiota of the host and by modulating the host immune response. The use of gene editing and recombinant DNA techniques to create tailored probiotics and to characterize next-generation beneficial microbes. For example, engineering that improves the anti-inflammatory profile of probiotics can reduce the number of colonic polyps formed, and lactobacilli can be transformed into targeted delivery systems carrying therapeutic proteins or bioengineered bacteriophage. The association of specific microbiota composition with colorectal cancer, liver diseases, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. The gut microbiota has been proposed to serve as an organ involved in regulation of inflammation, immune function, and energy homeostasis. Fecal microbiota transplantation as a promising treatment for numerous diseases beyond C. difficile infection. Practical considerations for using fecal microbiota transplantation are provided, while it is acknowledged that more high-quality evidence is needed to ascertain the importance of strain specificity in positive treatment outcomes. Because systems biology approaches and synthetic engineering of microbes are now high-throughput and cost-effective, a much wider range of therapeutic possibilities can be explored and vetted.

Viruses are microscopic agents that exist worldwide and are present in humans, animals, plants, and other living organisms in which they can cause devastating diseases. However, the advances of biotechnology and next-generation sequencing technologies have accelerated novel virus discovery, identification, sequencing, and manipulation, showing that they present unique characteristics that place them as valuable tools for a wide variety of biotechnological applications. Many applications of viruses have been used for agricultural purposes, namely concerning plant breeding and plant protection. Nevertheless, it is interesting to mention that plants have also many advantages to be used in vaccine production, such as the low cost and low risks they entail, showing once more the versatility of the use of viruses in biotechnology. Although it will obviously never be ignored that viruses are responsible for devastating diseases, it is clear that the more they are studied, the more possibilities they offer to us. They are now on the front line of the most revolutionizing techniques in several fields, providing advances that would not be possible without their existence. In this book there are presented studies that demonstrate the work developed using viruses in biotechnology. These studies were brought by experts that focus on the development and applications of many viruses in several fields, such as agriculture, the pharmaceutical industry, and medicine.

In this stunning cautionary tale, a team of technical wizards tracks a mysterious computer virus to an elusive genius. As the millennium draws near, the virus hunters realize that the brilliant villain has control of the World Wide Web--and his deadly bug has the power to bring everyone's prophecies to fruition.

An Observer Book of the Year A Times Science Book of the Year A New Statesman Book of the Year A Financial Times Science Book of the Year 'Astonishingly bold' Daily Mail 'It is hard to imagine a more timely book ... much of the modern world will make more sense having read it.' The Times We live in a world that's more interconnected than ever before. Our lives are shaped by outbreaks - of disease, of misinformation, even of violence - that appear, spread and fade away with bewildering speed. To understand them, we need to learn the hidden laws that govern them. From 'superspreaders' who might spark a pandemic or bring down a financial system to the social dynamics that make loneliness catch on, The Rules of Contagion offers compelling insights into human behaviour and explains how we can get better at predicting what happens next. Along the way, Adam Kucharski explores how innovations spread through friendship networks, what links computer viruses with folk stories - and why the most useful predictions aren't necessarily the ones that come true. Now revised and updated with content on Covid-19.

A fascinating and long overdue examination of viruses - from what they are and what they do, to the vital role they have played in human history.What are viruses? Do they rely on genes, like all other forms of life? Do they follow the same patterns of evolution as plants and animals?Dr. Frank Ryan answers these questions and many more in a sweeping tour of illnesses caused by viruses. He examines the common cold, measles, chicken pox, herpes, mumps, and rubella, as well as less familiar maladies, such as rabies, "breakbone fever," hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, and virus-induced cancers. Along the way, readers will learn about the behaviors of viruses and what drives them to infect a human host. Ryan explains the role of viruses in the evolution of life, revealing how viruses have changed us at the most intimate level, helping to make us quintessentially human.