Virus X

In the 1980s our comforting illusion that we had conquered plagues through our discovery of vaccines and antibiotics was shattered by the arrival of AIDS. But AIDS is just one of the many emerging viruses for which we have, as yet, no cure. Even the old plagues – TB, cholera, bubonic plague – are making a comeback, resistant now to our drugs.

Frank Ryan, a leading authority on disease, describes the groundbreaking research of the world’s leading experts in the field to show both where these viruses come from and why they prove to be so lethal, and advances a radical new biological theory for the origins and behaviour of plague viruses. Full of vivid despatches from the front line of research and medicine, 'Virus X' is terrifying and essential reading for anyone interested in the effects of plague viruses on human evolution.

“Extremely well written…Frank Ryan has the page-turning and spine-chilling ability of a good novelist”
MATT RIDLEY, 'Sunday Telegraph'

“Compelling and frightening…the plot could not be bettered”
MICHAEL SMITH, 'Scotsman'

“Ryan is very good at making technical matters comprehensible to the lay reader but more impressive still is the way he conveys the intellectual excitement and elation of scientific discovery”
ANTHONY DANIELS, 'Literary Review'

“Ryan takes us through the drama of discovery and challenges the notion that certain questions are too appalling to contemplate”
DAVID BRADLEY, 'New Scientist'

“Dr Ryan writes well in a difficult technical field, weaving the technicalities of scientific history, medicine, molecular biology and evolution into the human narratives…very readable and disturbing”
JOHN R.G. TURNER, 'New York Times'