Publishers Weekly
06/05/2023
Tiny viruses that prey on bacteria could open a new front against infectious disease, according to this fascinating primer. Journalist Ireland’s debut recaps the discovery of bacteriophages—“viruses that infect and kill bacteria” but are “essentially harmless to humans”—and details efforts stretching back a century to put them to use against harmful pathogens. Injecting or brushing phages on wounds has shown efficacy in curing dysentery and antibiotic-resistant infections, but large-scale deployment has proven difficult because phages are finicky about which bacterial strains they’ll eat and bacteria sometimes develop resistance to phages during treatment. Politics also stymied the therapy’s development, according to Ireland, who suggests that English-language scientists viewed it skeptically because they disregarded promising findings published in French, Georgian, and Russian journals and because the treatment’s most prominent innovators hailed from the Soviet Union. Ireland keeps the science lucid and entertaining in a narrative that’s full of colorful characters—in 1919, French microbiologist Felix d’Hérelle checked the safety of his phage elixir by swigging some himself before dosing his patient—and vivid prose: “The plates, where there was once a dense, healthy lawn of Shigella bacteria, would resemble a microbial killing field, covered in holes where the tiny epidemics were spreading.” The result is a captivating portrait of an overlooked remedy. (Aug.)
Daniel M. Davis
"A new scientific frontier which couldn’t be more fascinating or vital. Phages are critical to our health and the health of the whole planet. Brilliantly written and profound, this book is ahead of the curve and deserves to become a classic."
Suzanne O’Sullivan
"It is rare to find such a rich seam of science that is so pertinent to modern health concerns yet feels so underrecognized. Everybody knows about good bacteria, but I doubt they have heard of good viruses (I hadn’t). . . . This book is full of gems of information and hope for the future."
Steffanie Strathdee
"An enthralling, meticulously researched book that will change the way you think about not only viruses, but also the science behind discovery and rediscovery."
Matthew Cobb
"This thrilling book will amaze you. Viruses have been attacking bacteria since the dawn of time, but in the last century some scientists have been able to enlist them in the fight against bacterial infections. Tom Ireland’s limpid writing tells the exciting story of the past and future of ‘phage therapy,’ balanced by a sober exploration of the problems involved in turning the good viruses into treatments. Highly recommended."
George McGavin
"A masterful blend of jaw-dropping science and absorbing storytelling.… This book reminds us of the missed opportunities we simply cannot afford to miss again."
Sue Black
"Incredible and thought-provoking. Phages are the superheroes of the human biome. A truly enlightening read that makes you realize what we really don’t yet know."
The New York Times Book Review - Alex Johnson
"A colorful redemption story for the oft-neglected yet incredibly abundant phage. . . . Ireland, an award-winning science journalist, approaches the subject of his first book with curiosity and passion, delivering a deft narrative that is rich and approachable."
Science - Adrian Woolfson
"Incredibly timely."
Wall Street Journal - David A. Shaywitz
"As engaging as it is expansive, The Good Virus describes the distinctive biology and murky history of bacteriophage (generally shortened to ‘phage’), a form of life that is remarkably abundant yet obscure enough to have been termed the ‘dark matter of biology.’"
Sarah Gilbert
"A fascinating and absorbing guide to this abundant but rarely studied life form, The Good Virus takes us through the discovery of bacteriophages and their use in laboratory research, and highlights their increasingly likely future as a weapon against antibiotics-resistant bacteria."
Kirkus Reviews
2023-05-09
An enthusiastic account of organisms that silently rule the Earth.
Viruses are “smaller than the wavelength of light,” and they replicate by invading a cell, multiplying, and then leaving, often killing the cell. A minuscule fraction cause human disease—polio, measles, flu, Covid-19, some cancers—but most are benign and often an essential part of life. Human viruses receive plenty of attention, but science journalist Ireland hits pay dirt by focusing on those that attack bacteria. Called bacteriophages or “phages,” they often attack deadly human infections. In 1917, scientists discovered that certain liquids, filtered to remove bacteria, destroyed bacterial cultures. They theorized that the fluid contained viruses that were “too small to see with a light microscope.” Researchers took up the idea of using these liquids to treat human infections. “For a few decades in the early twentieth century,” writes the author, “the world went mad for phages, and phage therapy was everywhere.” But phages are tricky. Some are weakly infectious; others are “hyper-specific, targeting only particular strains.” At the time, technology was primitive, and governments were lax about preclinical testing. By the 1930s, antibiotics appeared, miraculous drugs that made infections vanish. Sadly, by the 1990s, their vast overuse in medicine and agriculture was producing a deadly epidemic of increasingly resistant and even entirely impervious bacteria. Inevitably, this revived interest in phages. Both optimistic and realistic, Ireland writes that designing a phage for a specific bacterial strain is more complex than developing an antibiotic, and clinical trials have proven frustrating and expensive. He describes dramatic cures but no breakthroughs so far. At the halfway point of the book, the author rewinds the clock to the 1930s, describing genetic and DNA–related phage research that has led to numerous Nobel Prizes and an ongoing scientific revolution that has extended from the discovery of the double helix to genetic engineering, cloning, and insights into the nature of life itself.
A capably guided tour of a scientific wave of the future.
