Thursday, February 7, 2008

Endogenous retroviruses

There's was great article in the New Yorker just a couple of month's ago on endogenous retroviruses. It describes their discovery and their potential influence on human evolution as well as links to AIDS and the recreation of the so called Phoenix virus in Thierry Heidmann's lab. I've been very impressed with science articles I have read in the New Yorker, I wonder if they could ever be persuaded to put out a Science textbook? The only thing remotely close to this I can think of is Bill Bryson's book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, which also conveys some of the sense of excitement of science with a genuine and infectious sense of wonder.

No comments: