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FRANK RYAN
Virolution
The most important evolutionary book since Dawkins’ Selfish Gene
William Collins An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
First published by Collins 2009
Text & diagrams © FPR-Books Ltd 2009
Frank Ryan asserts his moral right to be identified
as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780007315123
Ebook Edition © JULY 2013 ISBN: 9780007545278
Version: 2018–12–04
To the memory of Terry Yates, for the courtesyand generosity of his help and the inspirationthat gave rise to this life-changing journey.
Science knows no country because it is the light that illuminates the world.
LOUIS PASTEUR
Like science, emerging viruses know no country. There are no barriers to prevent their migration across international boundaries or around the 24 time zones.
RICHARD M KRAUSE
A relatively small number of investigators have been preoccupied with the biology of viruses … and how they tick; these scientists are more sensitive to the … evolution of their symbiotic relations with their hosts.
JOSHUA LEDERBERG1
Contents
Introduction: A Wind of Change
1: An Enigma from the World of Plagues
5: The Paradox of the Human Genome
6: How Viruses Helped Make Us Human
7: The Implications for Medicine
11: Sex in the Evolutionary Tree
13: The Genie that Controls the Genes
I am quite sure that our views on evolution would be very different had biologists studied genetics and natural selection
