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The new version of Principles of Molecular Virology is being printed right now :-)

You can order your copy now from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk

Lot’s of stuff!

You can order your copy now from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk

“It is mostly a well-told tale with lots of “wow” moments, but A Planet of Viruses was marred somewhat by a handful of inaccuracies. Among my quibbles is the claim that H5N1 bird flu started in 2006, when it first took hold in China in 1997 and exploded onto the world stage in 2004.
But what was notably absent in the book was the politics – what all of this means for us. This slim volume would have benefitted from more context, perhaps at the expense of some of the bio-factoids. For example, swine flu showed us that we can’t make pandemic vaccine fast enough – and that hand-washing is no substitute. West Nile virus revealed a dangerous lack of communication between doctors and veterinarians, while SARS showed what works. Many such compelling and important stories were given short shrift, or none at all.
In this book, wise scientists are portrayed as having everything firmly in hand, and all is well in the virus-riddled garden. The real situation, unfortunately, is more complex – and exciting – than that.” via CultureLab: Cool viruses from pox to pandemics

… that the page proofs for the fifth edition of Principles of Molecular Virology have been approved, the book is currently being printed, and you can order your copy now from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk!

and on Amazon.com!

SciReadr.com is based on the reading list for students the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Leicester. We know that students don’t read the books we suggest on the reading list, so the University of Leicester Student Experience Enhancement Group funded Project SOAR, which has two parts.

The first is SciReadr.com, an interactive site where you can browse, rate, review, borrow or buy the books on the reading list. If you’d like to know more, there’s lots of information here. We’re also on Facebook and Friendfeed if that’s easier for you, and we’d like hear any suggestions you have about the website.

Scireadr.com is open to everyone, but if you have a University of Leicester email address, after you’ve read a book, you can come along to a Book Group meeting in the Student’s Union, pick up a coffee from Starbucks or a beer from the bar and spend a happy couple of hours chatting with people who’ve read the same book. Sound interesting? The first book group meeting is in February and the book we’ll be discussing is Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, so if you’re interested and have a University of Leicester email address, sign up at SciReadr.com now.

My colleague at the University of Leicester, Dr Martha Clokie, has recently co-edited a two-volume book on how to work with bacteriophages. Ranging from the evolution of pathogenicity to oceanic carbon cycling, the many and varied roles that bacteriophages play in microbial ecology and evolution have inspired increased interest within the scientific community. The book pulls together the vast body of knowledge and expertise from top international bacteriophage researchers to provide both classical and state-of-the-art molecular techniques, including laboratory protocols and a notes section which details tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Volume 1 “Isolation, Characterization, and Interactions” examines a number of topics, including the isolation of phages, morphological and molecular characterization, and interaction with bacteria. Volume 2 “Molecular and Applied Aspects” examines bacteriophage genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics, along with applied bacteriophage biology.

Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols, Volume 1: Isolation, Characterization, and Interactions
Editors: Martha R.J Clokie, Andrew M. Kropinski
Methods in Molecular Biology , Vol. 501
ISBN: 978-1-58829-682-5 (Hardcover)

Bacteriophages: Methods and Protocols, Volume 2: Molecular and Applied Aspects
ISBN: 978-1-60327-564-4 (Hardcover)