Виролюция.

by Frank Ryan

Все живое на планете, в том числе люди, живут в симбиозе с вирусами, эволюционируют вместе с ними и благодаря им… выживают. Вирусы, их производные и тесно связанные с ними структуры составляют как минимум сорок три процента человеческого генома, что заставляет сделать вывод: естественный отбор у человека и его предков происходил в партнерстве с сотнями вирусов.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Evolution, Biology, Popular Science, Medical, Medicine

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Frank Ryan is a consultant physician in the UK as well as being an innovative evolutionary biologist, who has introduced the concepts of aggressive symbiosis to virology, and the concepts of genomic creativity and the holobiontic human genome to the story of human evolution. His major scientific interest has been the pioneering and development of the concept of viruses as symbionts, thus bringing together the disciplines of evolutionary virology and symbiology. He has a major interest in the evolution of the human genome and the implications this has for medicine.

BOOKS

Frank's books include the recently published "The Mysterious World of the Human Genome", Virolution, Metamorphosis, Darwin's Blind Spot, Virus X, and The Forgotten Plague. World in Action and Horizon based programs on Frank's books. The Forgotten Plague was a non-fiction book of the year for the New York Times. Virus X also received outstanding reviews in the New York Times and The Washington Post's Bookworld, and Darwin's Blind Spot was the book of choice for Charlie Munger in 2003.

Frank's books have also been the subject of TV and radio documentaries and have been translated into many languages. He is also an occasional reviewer of books for the New York Times.

SOCIAL LIFE

Frank is married with two children. He is an entertaining speaker, which has helped to make him popular with the live media, professional colleagues and lay audiences alike.

Reviews

[Frank Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to put a rating on a book you yourself have written. I'm hardly going to give it less than five stars. But I can't see any other way of communicating about it.

I'm the author of Virolution. All that I am trying to do is to invite readers to make contact. The ideas in Virolution have been confirmed in exciting ways. The message is important to how we see ourselves as human.

I am currently working with scientific colleagues in several countries to take the new ideas further. I have accepted the invitation of the governing boards to deliver plenary talks at the World Congress of the International Symbiosis Society in Krakow in July 2012 and to the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (PhD section) in Helsinki in September 2012. Both organisations have asked me to spend several days in addition to the talk to help young scientists to consider new lines of research in viral symbiosis.

What's happening is major. I think that Goodread readers might well be interested to hear more and I would be more than happy to help members of Goodreads to get a better understanding. It's not so complicated that ordinary readers wouldn't understand - indeed I am involved in a series of lectures to ordinary readers in the UK.

Please feel free to communicate with me through www.fprbooks.com.

Best wishes,

Frank Ryan

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of things bugged me about this book.

First, the second half of the book went way off the topic I thought was its focus (the role of viruses in evolution). Fortunately, the material the later chapters covered was really interesting, despite straying from what I thought was the author's main thesis.

Second, I had a lot of problems with the style. I got pretty sick of the way that for every idea or piece of research he described, the author felt the need to start out with "so and so, a researcher at bla bla university, conducted some controversial research in whatever year... They were kind enough to speak to me by phone..." and then proceed to spend sometimes pages giving the exact transcript of his conversation with said researcher. Had this annoying waffle been cutout, the book would have been half the length and much more readable.

Nonetheless, problems with style and structure aside, the actual content of the book was very interesting and the actual research was typically described clearly, which is probably an advantage of the book being written by a clinician rather than a researcher. Overall a worthwhile read if you can put aside the problems described above.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover made me worry that this was going to be complete pseudo-science, but it’s not bad at all. It’s a little scatterbrained — although the title is Virolution, a good chunk of it involves epigenetics, and it isn’t very clearly linked to the viral theme. The main thrust of the book is: evolution didn’t just happen by natural selection, but also through symbiosis. That symbiosis includes symbiosis with bacteria and viruses, as we co-evolved.

It’s not something I disagree with, and Ryan lays out the ideas clearly and informatively. I’m not sure I see such a huge role for viruses in evolution, at least not in the sense that he does. I don’t think it really modifies natural selection that much. Perhaps I’m just a little too familiar with stuff like Lynn Margulis’ theories about symbiosis? I’d always seen a fairly big role for symbiosis in evolution, because of course it drives co-evolution to establish stable mutualism.

Not a bad book, but perhaps a little too enthusiastic about its claims, and a little too scatterbrained about the content.

Originally reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Kirsten Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best popular science book that I have read since Matt Ridley's genome, without the condescending style of writing that I gave come to expect from Richard Dawkins. I have a biochemistry and microbiology background yet found the book challenging and thought-provoking and took my (often quite geeky) respect of the importance of viruses to a new level. I would recommend this to someone who already has an interest and some understanding of the subject matter. And I will be reading it again because I believe that I have more to gain from it

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The starling (and scary) role played by viruses in biological evolution

A major thesis of this amazing book is that plants and animals including most significantly humans co-evolve with viruses. The term "virolution," presumably coined by Dr. Ryan, who is both a physician and an evolutionary biologist, comes from the words "virus" and "evolution" but also suggesting the word "revolution." The idea is that instead of being merely agents of pathology, viruses can also work together with their host to help it survive. Ryan gives the example of grey squirrels imported from America invading the territory of red squirrels in Britain. He writes:

"At first naturalists assumed that the grey squirrel was winning the survival battle because it was larger and more aggressive than the native counterpart, but now we know that the grey squirrel is carrying a squirrel pox virus that causes no disease symptoms in its symbiotic partner but appears to be lethal to the red squirrel." (p. 96)

In other words what we have here is war by an organism's own viral pathogens! Survival of the fittest may include carrying around lethal viruses that can wipe out your ecological competition. Ryan notes "We believe that HIV-1, the main virus of AIDS, was transferred to people from a specific group of chimpanzees. We also know that, in chimpanzees, HIV-1 grows freely and reproduces in their internal organs and tissues, but it causes no evidence of disease." (p. 86)

So what apparently happened is some bush meat eaters shot some chimps, ate and/or sold the meat and humans got the virus. Revenge of the dead chimp! Well, perhaps. But look at it this way. Imagine humans in prehistory or even humans a few centuries ago in the Congo jungle looking to take over some chimp territory. After some close contact, the virus jumps from the chimps to humans and the humans die. Survival of the fittest!

Ryan refers to this as an example of "aggressive symbiosis," and this is how it works in general: two similar species occupying similar ecological niches come into contact. Which is to prevail? One carries a virus like a loaded gun in its tissues. The virus jumps to the other species and typically is extraordinarily virulent and kills them. Or perhaps there is a dueling of viruses, one from each species. At some point the only survivors are those with immunity to the viruses.

Ryan makes a further point with this example (quoting Max Essex on the deliberate use of a myxomatosis virus to kill rabbits in Australia): "The…virus killed…some 99.8% of the rabbits. But then two things happened. Number one - within four years, the resistant minority grew so you had a different population of disease-resistant rabbits… And number two - the myxomatosis virus that remained [as a persistent infection in the rabbits] was less virulent, so I think there is crystal-clear evidence that both the host and the virus attenuated themselves for optimal survival in that situation." Furthermore (and this brings us back to the previous point), any new rabbits brought in would be at a disadvantage because they would have no immunity to the virus and the surviving rabbits would. (pp. 87-88)

In other words looked at from an evolutionary perspective, host and virus worked together in a mutualistic symbiosis. In my mind this raises the question, what really did happen to the Neanderthal? We do know what happened to the natives of the Americas when they came into contact with the smallpox virus carried by the Europeans. Could a virus from homo sapiens have wiped out the Neanderthal, or at least helped humans become the sole hominid survivors?

In the largest sense, this idea of host and virus working together would seem to be more powerful than any kind of sharp tooth and massive claw in the struggle for survival. The old idea of survival of the fittest must now be seen in a different light. I have said for many years that "everything works toward an ecology" and "everything works toward a symbiosis," meaning that in a typical environment, if one species is able to work together with another, they may enjoy an advantage over rivals. Consequently, those species that are able to form symbiotic relationships are the ones more likely to survive. What this means for evolutionary theory, as Dr. Ryan has pointed out, is that symbiosis is a much more important part of evolutionary biology than has previously been thought. My guess is that the revolution begun by Lynn Margulis, who first saw the eukaryotic cell as a mutualistic development from parasitic relationships, will be accelerated by the work of Ryan and others to the point where the prevailing view from evolutionists will be that it is cooperation rather than competition that most characterizes fitness.

And that is what makes this book so important. It signals a great shift in our understanding of how evolution works.

But that is not all. Ryan shows that the so-called "junk DNA" in genomes is anything but. Much of it is viral ("endogenous retroviruses") and it is there as evidence that humans and pre-humans went through many periods of aggressive symbiosis including the horrid plague stage. We now see that plagues, from an evolutionary perspective, are common and part of how the evolutionary process formed us. Furthermore Ryan writes about how viral genes can help with the development of the embryo in the womb. In other words, viral DNA in part directs the protein building that makes for human beings, and indeed for many forms of life.

In the latter parts of the book Ryan explores the role of viruses in autoimmune diseases and cancer. He also considers the role of hybridization in evolutionary change and that of epigenetics. Particularly interesting is the work of Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb that suggests that "new species might arise through the inheritance of acquired epigenetic changes," causing Ryan to remark, "they were resurrecting the long-discredited spectre of Lamarckian evolution." (p. 312)

The book is dense, difficult and perhaps revolutionary in scope.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “Understanding Evolution and Ourselves”

[Nico Van Straalen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frank Ryan quite rightly points out that evolution is more than mutation-plus-selection, that there is "genomic creativity" coming from symbiogenesis, viral infection and hybridization that can bring about changes in an organism much larger than simple stepwise mutations. Ryan finds himself in the company of biologists such as Gabriel Dover, Robert Reid and Masatoshi Nei, who likewise have proposed a "mutation-driven" concept for evolutionary change, to work in conjunction but sometimes separate from good old natural selection. Evolution induced by human endogenous retroviruses and others is quite aptly designated by him as "virolution", and he discusses many interesting examples. However, I feel that about halfway the book he looses track of his subject, and in his enthusiasm goes into too many different directions, including hybridization, polyploidization and epigenetics. I would have liked him to stay with the viruses rather than trying to touch almost all of the life sciences and loose depth.

[Víctor Avellaneda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book approaches viruses from an evolutionary and ecological point of view. In 1989 Joshua Lederberg discussed the evolutionary and symbiotic role of viruses. At that time, the subject was very scarce and the canonical view of biology and medicine approached viruses as simple acellular disease-causing agents. The truth is that the development of new molecular biology techniques has made it possible to study the functioning of viruses in greater detail and also to discover their role within the human genome. Together with Luis P. Villarreal, Frank Ryan shares the virocentric point of view, leaving aside the simple dissease focus that is traditionally taken when talking about viruses.
Starting with virus X in North America and its possible ecological-evolutionary role, Frank Ryan introduces us to a novel concept that is currently gaining momentum, especially with the discovery of giant viruses with unusual properties, such as Mimivirus, Pandoravirus or Tupanvirus, which have challenged the classical concepts of life, its origin and the role played by viruses.
One of the main topics addressed in this book are the endogenous viruses (ERV's) that are in the genomes of all living creatures. These are evidence of ancestral viral infections and have been shown to participate in evolutionary processes in populations. In medicine, VREs are known to participate in the deregulation of genes involved in the cell cycle, so that when the viral genome is inserted at a site of importance, the regulatory function is lost and can trigger disease, such as cancer. However, one of the core points of this book is discussed with the discovery of endogenous retroviruses and their role in the formation of the placenta in mammals. In turn, the book mentions hints of a possible role of ERVs in the brain.
However, this point about the role of VREs and the brain is not mentioned, because by the time the book was published (in 2009) a number of very relevant scientific articles on this topic, related to the Arc protein, which is involved in neuroplasticity and memory function in vertebrates and even in fruit fly models, had not yet been published. Below is a short list of these papers:

1. Pastuzyn, E. D., Day, C. E., Kearns, R. B., Kyrke-Smith, M., Taibi, A. V., McCormick, J., ... Shepherd, J. D. (2018). The Neuronal Gene Arc Encodes a Repurposed Retrotransposon Gag Protein that Mediates Intercellular RNA Transfer. Cell, 172(1-2), 275-288.e18. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.024.
2. Erlendsson, S., Morado, D. R., Cullen, H. B., Feschotte, C., Shepherd, J. D., & Briggs, J. (2020). Structures of virus-like capsids formed by the Drosophila neuronal Arc proteins. Nature neuroscience, 23(2), 172-175. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-05....
3. Erlendsson, S., Morado, D.R., Cullen, H.B. et al. Structures of virus-like capsids formed by the Drosophila neuronal Arc proteins. Nat Neurosci 23, 172-175 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-05.... https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-05...
4. Day, C., & Shepherd, J. D. (2015). Arc: building a bridge from viruses to memory. Biochemical Journal, 469(1), e1-e3. doi:10.1042/bj20150487. doi:10.1042/bj20150487.

Another interesting point that Frank Ryan mentions is the fact that the interaction of a virus with a new host is actually the beginning of symbiosis and commensalism. This idea seems far-fetched but it makes sense if you compare symbionts such as mitochondria and their relationship with bacteria. Furthermore, another important point is that viruses cease to be pathogenic when there is both selective pressure from the immune system of the infected population and selection of the virus itself towards the host, i.e. population processes such as bottlenecks or the death of individuals more susceptible to viral infections. At the end of this process, which takes years, the viruses will be in a non-immunogenic interaction. One of the most famous cases and which is the subject of the book is the endogenous koala viruses in Australia and the two populations in that country that, although they have those viruses, the one that has had the most recent interaction, is having a pandemic right now. On the other hand, I would like to add that there are also studies of VRE's in primates that do not develop any disease, but when they have interacted with primates from other areas with which there was never contact with the virus, they develop the disease.
Here I share a related article:

1. Mun, S., Lee, J., Kim, Y. J., Kim, H. S., & Han, K. (2014). Chimpanzee-specific endogenous retrovirus generates genomic variations in the chimpanzee genome. PloS one, 9(7), e101195. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....

Gifford, Robert J.; Katzourakis, Aris; Tristem Michael; Pybus, Oliver G.; Winters, Mark; Shafer, Robert W. 2008. A transitional endogenous lentivirus from the genome of a basal primate and implications for lentivirus evolution. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105, no.51. Pp. 20362-20367. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0807873105

In itself, an epidemic, or pandemic, from an ecological and evolutionary point of view, is the beginning of a symbiotic relationship; it varies over time and may result in the infected species becoming extinct. However, there is evidence of numerous past viral infections in the human genome and in the genome of all living creatures.

Since the tissue and immune barriers of the original hosts were very similar or those of the new host, these viruses would possess pre-evolved strategies that would work pretty much in the new host as they did in a very important characteristic in common. Once they entered an individual, or species, the never wnet away, not in terms of the entire affected population, or even the species. The biological term for such a relationship is "persistence" and viruses are said to be "persistent-viruses". The very nature of such a long-term, and inevitably intimate, relationship has a major implications for the virus-host evolutionary dynamics.

In fact, researchers such as Francisco Mojica, would observe the participation of VRE's within genomic libraries in conjunction with the bacterial CRISPR-Cas enzyme complex. Of course, by the time Virolution was published, the topic of CRISPR-Cas was not popular in scientific publications, but now we know that there is an important participation of bacteriophages in this immune system present in several types of bacteria. It is interesting to see that an immune system based on a nuclease such as CRISPR-Cas, whose function is to detect viral genomes inserted in the bacterial chromosome, has revolutionized genetic engineering and now allows great advances in this field, signifying a scientific and technological revolution. Likewise, there is in Mimivirus a defense system reminiscent of CRISPR-Cas. In this case, Mimivirus is infected by the virophage Zamilon, however, one of the three strains of Mimivirus is resistant to this virophage, since it has a system called MIMIVIRE.

Viruses prove to be complex and far from simple. Frank Ryan quotes interesting authors, such as Luis P. Villarreal, with an interesting and intriguing point of view on the nature of viruses and their close relationship with other living organisms. Another highlight of this book is that he dares to reflect on the shape of the so-called tree of life.
In summary, this book is interesting because it talks about viruses from new perspectives and invites readers to think beyond what is commonly known about these biological entities. It should be noted that there are currently new disciplines within virology, such as ecological virology, where interesting studies have been carried out in relation to the role of viruses in the regulation of bacterial populations in oceans. Some examples are mentioned in this book, such as the investigation of the double symbiosis between a virus, a fungus and a plant. This allows us to understand life as an interconnected network of genes and not as individuals separated from each other.
With the current pandemic, it is more than evident that the interaction and degradation of habitats that have been isolated for millions of years produces spillover events and new pandemics. The evolutionary and ecological perspective, I think, helps us to understand all these phenomena and the role of the human species with other organisms on Earth. In addition to causing diseases, viruses are important evolutionary vectors and also important components within ecological communities. It is clear that the greater the biological diversity, the greater the viral diversity. Nowadays, new techniques, increasingly accessible, such as metagenomics, make it possible to study the relationship between the virome and the health of the hosts; an aspect that is of medical relevance and on which interesting clinical research has been carried out.

Anyone who wants to have a new conception of viruses, as well as to understand the events of interspecific interaction, may be interested in this book. It is highly recommended and I can say that I liked it very much.

I am currently studying my last year in Biology and I can say that this book has reinforced my interest in virology, as well as motivated me to explore the work of new authors who have similar approaches.

[Eve Proofreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, Frank Ryan’s ‘Virolution’ does exactly what a popular science book should. It brings original ideas to a broader audience in an accessible and largely interesting manner. Essentially, it explains the evidence for the role of viruses in the evolution of all species. As a non-scientist reading this, I cannot speak for the accuracy of the content, but I gave a brief précis of it people with varying levels of interest and expertise, and they all said something to the effect of: ‘well that sounds right: how could that not be the case?’. I think that is also an indictment of how clearly Ryan presents his ideas; their lucidity and logic render them instantly credible.

Unlike other books in the genre, Ryan innovatively chose to explain his thesis by leading the reader through his journey of discovery. The sections where he recounts direct speech in conversation with eminent colleagues were not entirely to my taste. I would have preferred a summary of their contributions. Aside from these sections, I found the scientific explanations enjoyable, though I was more engaged in the first half of the text than the second. Read more at http://eveproofreads.com/2012/12/09/v....

[Ian Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading about the ideas Ryan presents in his book for years, ever since the "junk DNA" in our genome was first announced. It never made sense, in an evolutionary perspective, that we would build a large database of useless information. There's got to be more to it.

With the discovery of mimivirus and pandoravirus, there seem to be new ideas about what viruses are what what role they play in evolution and environmental adaptation. Ryan as, I believe, the right idea: co-evolution.

Good book, well written, and a nice mix of science and anecdote. I suspect it will need a revision in the next few years to incorporate some of the more recent discoveries.

[Sander · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book certainly contains interesting information, I have so problems with it: The title and summary led me to believe that it would be about the role of viruses on evolution. However, the second half of the book is, at best, only tangentially related to viruses. Also, several times I had to feeling that the authors was building up to something which then didn't appear. In general I've missed conclusions. I appreciate that this field of research is quite new, but I'd have liked more theories or speculation, if you will, about how viruses have shaped our evolution.

[Joseph Masters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this while I was back at school (in 6th form). Fascinating new scientific concept regarding the role of viruses in our evolutionary history - well worth a read for any budding biologists!

Perhaps slightly too speculative - may have been nice to see a bit more scientific 'evidence' in there. It focused just a bit too much on the author's 'journey' and was just a bit too 'story-like' for my liking. However, I guess this is a popular science book after all.

[Genetic Cuckoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed look at a wide range of ways that viruses have influences the evolution of life on Earth. Highlighting some interesting ideas regarding Epigenetics and Cancer. Certainly recommended reading for anyone studying genetics.

[Terry Erle Clayton · Rating 1 out of 5]

If ever an author needed a good editor...

[Richard Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the era of the coronavirus, it is good for all us to know a bit more about viruses. We have grown used to the idea that we live in a world filled with bacteria, that millions of bacteria natually inhabit our bodies and that many of them are benign and even beneficial. It isn't too big a leap to extend this same thinking to viruses. Viruses work in different ways from bacteria, and when they are bad, they can be very, very bad, but many viruses co-exist with us in symbiotic relationships and have co-evolved with us to the benefit of both parties. Beyond that, viruses have incorporated themselves into our DNA and have become part of us, completely and inextricably integrated with their hosts. There is no escape from them. In becoming part of us they have become drivers for evolution in ways that go beyond the conventional wisdom that evolution is driven by natural selection plus random mutation.

In the second half of the book, the author gets into a discussion about how hybridization and epigenetics are also important drivers of evolution that need to be considered together with mutation, natural selection and viruses to give a complete picuture of how evolution works. This is important, but I already knew about hybridization and epigenetics and this was not why I was reading this book. It was a bit off topic. I had hoped that the author would further develop this line of discussion to tell us how viruses play a role in hybridization and epigenetics, as I am sure that they must, but he didn't go there.

The style of the book is very uneven. It is a bit dull and repetitive, infected with some of the conventions of academic writing though it is clearly written for a popular audience. Also, it varies wildly from chapter to chapter in the level of difficulty of the information presented, so that I found I had to carefully reread some of the material about HERVs to get the sense of it, whereas some of the material on hybridization, embryology and evolution was written at a level too basic for anyone who has taken high school biology.

Despite its stylistic weaknesses, the book presents a lot of valuable information that was new to me and has my mind spinning with its implications, so it was definitely worth reading.

[Samsara · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a rule of thumb, any pop science book with too many I and me are bad. This is a epic example of a poorly, repulsive writing style. It is sad, since this book actually contains some very interesting facts which could one day totally change how we perceive virus, and us (human).

What I learnt from this book is that retrovirus could do the ultimate hacking, instead of the "normal" virus hacking of hijacking a cell or bacteria and forcing it to reproduce many copies of the virus, these retrovirus actually insert itself in the host DNA. In a sense, the retrovirus achieve immortality by inserting itself into host DNA!... And retrovirus do much more than this. It could be a weapon to wipe out the host's closest competitors. When first infected, most (up to 98% of the total population) could be wipe out (think of AIDS). But the surviving 2% manage to co-exist with this deadly virus, AND this virus could infect and kill other related specises. Again, think of AIDS, it do nothing to gorilla, but kill almost all human being infected. If we don't have the modern pharmaceutical cocktails, large portion of human could be purged!

[Rob Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a relative novice in genetics and cellular biology it was a challenging read, but ultimately rewarding and eye-opening. Ryan supports his his views with rather detailed case studies. At times it was hard for me to really connect all the details, but I did get the "punchline" for each one.

While the book's primary focus is the emerging understanding of the connection that viruses play in evolution, the book explores other factors which now complicate the basics of Darwinism. The book reaches it crescendo with a look at epigenetics - both where we are now and the promises that await as this field develops further.

Like most good contemporary examinations of genetics and evolutionary theory, this book paints a picture of the many mechanisms that play a role in our current understanding of the field and that have ultimately turned Darwin's evolutionary tree into tangled hedge. There's more complexity to the field every day, but it's not without an underlying elegance.

[Denis Romanovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a usual book. Though, it starts about viruses, later it jumps into the history of generics, returns back to role of viruses in evolution through simbiosis, and then again jumps into other other evolution sources as hybritization and epigenetics with history of concepts and people who created them. In the end the book tries to combine all this information and make quite great conclusions.

I'm not a biology specialist, though still found this book quite interesting and easy to understand. It was really great time for me and definitely widened my view of the life and evolution in general.

[Geoff Wedge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A doctor recommended I read this whilst visiting a friend in hospital. The book was published pre covid 19 and I am glad I read it giving me perspective to deal with absolute covid deniers and the knowledge to wade through a barrage of covid 19 mainstream media and you tube 'fake news'.

A really insightful book into how virus' work and how a future pandemic (this book was published pre covid 19) might pan out.

[Joseph P. Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating Read with Easily-Recognizable, Practical Applications

Awesome book with paradigm opening, multi-dimensional perspectives on drivers of evolution, beyond random mutation/environment. A little difficult to follow in places for this layman, but still much worth the complete read.

[Janez Gorenc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

Virolution is truly a must-read for all who are ever-curious about life,evolution,and the mechanisms behind them.The writing may be a bit challenging at times if the reader is not an expert,but no extra reading is requires,just careful reading of the text itself.A great read during COVID-19 lockdown.

[Lorenzo Scarafia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely intense and fascinating read! The most beautiful part of this book was the capacity to elucidate and explain in such a linear and logical way some very complex topics. There was nothing I disliked, and the theories were explained in such a manner that it was a joy, and efficient use of my time.

[Nightshadequeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty decent overview of modern genetics. It's all familiar material to me, and I don't find it particularly well organized, but it's written so that most laypeople can understand.

[Emmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a medical professional. However, this book is easily understandable. In my perspective, this book gives an idea of viruses and the evolution of life beings.

[Debby Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating exploration into our world and relationship with viruses. Revealing!

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's get this out of the way right now: I absolutely love franks Ryan's books, even if have minor issues with his writing style every so often. It's him I have to thank for my interest in microbiology and my possible future career. But much as I love his stuff, I also have a lot of issues with this book, and I will go through them here if you are considering checking it out and are a fan like me.

The book has a great start, and tackles some fascinating evolutionary questions about the role viruses play in our DNA, their presence in our genomes and the potential impact they have on our genetic mechanisms. If the book had just delved further into this, had gone farther like it seemed to want to I would've given this book a five. To be fair, this makes up a decent chunk. But it's not the whole book, and it doesn't go far enough, especially considering the rest. And that's where my issues lie.

Now, genetics are interesting to be sure, and epigenetics sounds like a fascinating new branch. But we were promised a book about virolution, and this chunk at comprises the latter half kills the momentum. He barely references viruses, instead talking exclusively about genetics, and this upsets me because the other stuff is so fascinating that abandoning it is a disservice. Had this been split off into its own book, both would be better for it and while both are important for genetics, the two parts are so disparate that it made it hard to force my way through it. It's not bad, it's fascinating but the virus stuff is so much more interesting that I don't see why it didn't get an entire book to itself. Epigenetics too could've gotten its own book, but the lack of mixing makes it feel jumbled and forced together and that disappoints me. This section also leans to heavily on interviews that while perhaps nessecery are put up as if they are as fascinating as Ryan's ruminations, but by simply putting them out there they can't hope to be. They are interesting, but by the end things are running out of steam and they are put in, but not given the discussion they deserve.

When the final chapter comes, it brings us back to viruses and the book gets the most interesting it's been for a while, bringing us back to the fascinating implications of viruses and even their dualality of life and unliife. It's incredible, and I love it, but it only increases the sting from realizing how little the epigenetics stuff mattered to it.

Mr.Ryan, I love your books and I will always check out your new work, but this book just tries to look at too much and it weakens both. The virus stuff makes the epigenetics stuff look boring by comparison, and it's not. It's not, it's not at all, and it just demonstrates how forced in the material is. Please consider talking more about viruses, but if you do so give them their own book and epigenetics and hybrids it's own book so as not to hurt the two. Because the virus stuff is so blisteringly beautiful and depriving it of its own depth and focus that you tend to provide is a disservice to you and both concepts. And if wasn't for the amount of viral info, this book would've scored a lot lower. And I like to think that counts for something.

Can't wait to see whats next.

[Hal Huntley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, although one does need at least a good course in biology plus a bit more to keep up with it. The author tries not to be overly technical and he does a pretty good job of explaining the ideas. The importance of the book is showing the research avenues for cancer and autoimmune diseases. I like how he integrated the discussions with other researchers in the field; they clarified some points and made it more interesting.

Two very fascinating discussions were of the elysia chlorotica in the first chapter and the blue-headed wrasse near the end of the book. There are indeed two very amazing and wondrous examples of life forms in the world where it would be fascinating to learn "why are they like that?".

I am a Christian who believes that God created the world and that His intelligent design made things as they are. Mr. Ryan's religion does not believe that way and so he thinks he will be able to figure out how all of evolution happened by looking at how viruses and symbiogenisis have been part of changing life forms. (That may not be entirely accurate representation of what he thinks, but it is what I've understood with my limited biological background.)

I think there is evolution of things of the same kind. Whatever his religious beliefs, that does not detract from the importance of research he discusses in the advances of medicine. Maybe because of that belief, he and those doctors and scientists researching important possible medical treatments for such debilitating diseases may possibly succeed in finding cures. It is possible that the belief that there is no God forces them to keep going way beyond what someone with that faith may just accept as "the way it is". So, from a macro-evolutionary point of view, I think he is off base; but for important current medical research it is an important book that explains some of the very complicated new directions that need to continue.

[Dennis Merimsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an exciting adventure it was to read "Virolution". I learned so much from this book, and,I enjoyed every moment of reading it. Frank Ryan certainly knows how to awaken the reader's curiosity. This is science writing at its best, like a detective story uncovering more and more surprising clues , page by page.
The writing is rich and evocative. For example
"Every day, in the vast proliferation of virus-host interactions that are taking place throughout the biological world, wholly disparate genomes–the genetic codes of what amounts to different kingdoms of life–are fusing, virus-with-host, on every twig and branch and leaf of the tree of life, from the humblest bacteria and Archaea to clown fish, sea slugs,"
Here are some of the things I learned from the book:
- Evolution is driven by four different driving forces – mutation, symbiogenesis, hybridization and epigenetics.
- We human beings are partners with retroviruses who make up 9% of our genome , help protect fetuses in the womb and help regulate our immune systems.
- Our x chromosome may well be hybrid, the result of a million years of sexual crossing with chimpanzees
- "All the cells in our body have the same DNA, so what what makes a nerve cell different from a liver cell – or a cell that is involved in inflammation-is the fact that a different repertoire of genes is expressed in the cell.The mechanism that controls this is epigenetics."
- "Unlike classical genetics, the epigenome is influenced by environmental factors throughout life."
Read this book. You won't regret it.

[Ângela Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will make you think of things you maybe have never considered. As the author said “this is an unusual journey- a new and, I believe, highly original exploration of the genetic and genomic forces that constructed our human genome”.
You will read about retroviruses, how they work, what’s it’s their impact in diseases like AIDS, and many other things. In my opinion this is an important book for the science community.
I will end this review with this quote:
“To paraphrase Jacob Bronowski, it would appear that nature (like man) is also distinguished by its imaginative gifts. It makes plans, inventions, new discoveries, by putting different talents together, and our understanding becomes more subtle and penetrating as we learn how it combines talents in more complex and intimate ways.”

[Aviv · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is well written, however, even though I am in medicine, I had a hard time keeping up my interest in this book. Dr. Ryan presents some highly interesting and novel material and does an exquisite job of making his case. Unfortunately, as much as I love and am fascinated by all things in medicine and the biological sciences I was unable to read this book for long periods of time. This is a great book, but seemed more like a textbook than a science book written for the mass market. I would recommend it for anyone who has a serious interest in virology and who is not consistently on the brink of complete exhaustion.

[Martika Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book I didn't like. It wasn't so much what it was about rather than how it was written. It was not written for someone like me, who though I have a great interest in science and enjoy reading about it, my knowledge is high school with one college biology class and lab. It was hard to get through and hard to understand. I feel that lays mostly with me, but as being such I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with just a basic understanding of biology or chemistry, it's just to dense for someone with just a basic understanding.