Virusphere

In 1993, a healthy young man in the middle of a desert began to drown in fluid produced by his own lungs. It was the first sign of the Sin Nombre hantavirus epidemic, and for Dr Frank Ryan it was the start of a scientific journey that changed how he saw life itself. Having witnessed that outbreak, Ryan turned to the study of viral evolution. He was startled to find that it cannot be separated from the evolution of every living thing on Earth. Looking at viruses from AIDS and Ebola to the common cold, he examines the role they play in every ecosystem on the planet. His conclusions recast the natural world and suggest that viruses are not only threats but also forces that make living things, and whole species, stronger.