David Quammen
Author
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Formats
Description
In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field—the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level—is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important. For instance, we now know that roughly eight percent of the human genome arrived...
Author
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Pub. Date
2022.
Edition
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Physical Desc
viii, 406 pages ; 24 cm
Language
English
Description
The story of SARS-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists who study its origin, its ever-changing nature, and its capacity to kill us. David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems, and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe. He explains why this coronavirus will probably be a "forever virus,"...