Virology Principles and applications

Virology

Virology is a fascinating and rapidly developing subject, and is worthy of study purely because viruses are interesting! Furthermore, virology is a branch of science that is of immense relevance to mankind for a host of reasons, not least of which are the threats to human health caused by viruses, such as HIV, hepatitis B virus, papillomaviruses, measles and influenza viruses, to mention just a few. There is a continuing need for trained virologists, and it is hoped that this book will play a small role in helping to fulfil this need.
To a large extent the material in the book is based on virology taught at Liverpool John Moores University.
This is not a textbook of fundamental virology, medical virology, veterinary virology, plant virology or of bacteriophages, but a bit of each of these! The general pattern of the book is that principles of virology are covered earlier and applications are covered later.
There is no strict demarcation between the two, however, so the reader may be made aware of important applications while principles are being introduced.
The first 10 chapters cover basic aspects of virology.
A chapter on methods used in virology comes early in the book, but could be skimmed to gain an overview of its contents and thereafter used for reference. There is one chapter on each of the seven Baltimore classes, concentrating mainly on animal viruses. There is a chapter devoted entirely to HIV and an extended chapter on phages, reflecting the renewed interest in their biology and applications. After a chapter on origins and evolution of viruses, there follow five chapters covering various aspects of applied virology, including vaccines and antiviral drugs. The final chapter is on prions, which are not viruses but are often considered along with the viruses.