Book Description

The use of DNA arrays and proteomics will transform the scale of our ability to describe the patterns of gene expression as bacteria respond to their environments. However, the ability to control bacteria in a clinical context or exploit them in industrial or environmental contexts also depends on understanding the regulatory mechanisms which connect input experience to output response at the genetic level. This book deals with our current knowledge of the circuits and networks that govern bacterial gene expression--from the single gene to the whole genome--and which provide the framework for explaining the data from the post genomics revolution. ... Read more

Book Description

This book presents edited papers from the 6th International Symposium on Poisonous Plants, held in Scotland in August 2001. It covers a range of topics from plant biochemistry to toxic effects in animals (particularly grazing farm animals) and humans. There are also papers considering fungal and bacterial toxins that are associated with plants. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1997, New York City adopted a mammoth watershed agreement to protect its drinking water and avoid filtration of its large upstate surface water supply. Shortly thereafter, the NRC began an analysis of the agreement's scientific validity.

The resulting book finds New York City's watershed agreement to be a good template for proactive watershed management that, if properly implemented, will maintain high water quality. However, it cautions that the agreement is not a guarantee of permanent filtration avoidance because of changing regulations, uncertainties regarding pollution sources, advances in treatment technologies, and natural variations in watershed conditions.

The book recommends that New York City place its highest priority on pathogenic microorganisms in the watershed and direct its resources toward improving methods for detecting pathogens, understanding pathogen transport and fate, and demonstrating that best management practices will remove pathogens. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

what is the main point of ecoli
what is ecol ... Read more

Book Description

Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms is the first book devoted specifically to multicellular aspects of bacterial life. Contrary to conventional wisdom, which treats bacteria as autonomous single cells, this book shows how bacteria are sentient, interactive organisms with an unexpectedly broad repertoire of chemical and physical mechanisms for signalling each other and organizing themselves into multicellular aggregates with novel properties. The book has been compiled from reports by specialists in a variety of disciplines from genetics and microbiology to environmental engineering and biotechnology. This interdisciplinary approach reflects the growing importance of bacteria as key experimental material for investigating phenomena common to many fields in contemporary science: communication, complexity, self-organization, and pattern formation. The impact of bacterial multicellularity will affect such diverse areas as evolutionary population biology, non-linear dynamics, and information science. ... Read more

Book Description

Arno Karlen, author of Man and Microbes, focuses on a single bacterium in Biography of a Germ, giving us an intimate view of a life that has been shaped by and is in turn transforming our own.

Borrelia burgdorferi is the germ that causes Lyme disease. In existence for some hundred million years, it was discovered only recently. Exploring its evolution, its daily existence, and its journey from ticks to mice to deer to humans, Karlen lucidly examines the life and world of this recently prominent germ. He also describes how it attacks the human body, and how by changing the environment, people are now much more likely to come into contact with it.Charming and thorough and smart, this book is a wonderfully written biography of your not so typical biographical subject. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

a cute little book
This is a cute little book on science which is also very informative and easy to read at the same time. I highly recommend it to anyone who may be interested in biology, medicine, popular science, or just a good story well told, as it covers not just the life of the germ, but also a little bit of its cultural and natural history.

a little gem
This is a slim book, simply written, easily read. But it also packs a lot of information between its pages--all that you need to know about Bb, the germ in question, in fact. It's also full of anecdotes, literary and cultural history, and even personal history. The short chapters make the book a very compelling read. Sure, this book isn't for scholars, but for the common readers who may not know much about the sciences. But I think it's all the better for it.

Good Topic, Boring Book
This book was spawned from a very good idea, but the book is dull and boring, do not buy unless you really like science!

Interesting, but superficial
This is undoubtly an interesting subject. Borrelia burgdorferi is an important pathogen and serve as a good model to explain some ways in which we have altered the environment and the resulting ecological consequences. Ecology and microbiology as the ecology of parasites in general are extremely important subjects we should all be conscientious and aware of. Particularly interesting is the ecological history of Borrelia burgdorferi and his vector.

The reason I only gave three stars to this book is that I felt it is superficial. Arno Karlen does not explain intimate relations between Borrelia and Ioxodes, nor between Ioxodes and deer, he just mentions the relations between them, but do not explain intimacies.

An enjoyable look at a small subject
Sometimes it's the simple books that help cut down the clutter and look at something in a manageable way. So often books about disease or germs become large dense tomes. Karlen has taken the time to look at a single germ, the one responsible for Lyme Disease, and looks at its past, present and potential future. Along the way he teaches you Biology 101 about germs in a simple and enjoyable manner. A simple book with a simple purpose, but one that shows us an aspect of the world around us we may not have thought about. ... Read more

Book Description

In nature, the roots of most plants are colonized by symbiotic fungi to form mycorrhiza, which play a critical role in the capture of nutrients from the soil, and therefore in plant nutrition. Thirteen years have passed since the publication of the First Edition of Mycorrhizal Symbiosis, the book that has been generally acclaimed as the most definitive work on this fascinating topic. The Second Edition co-authored by Professor Sally Smith and Professor David Read has been completely rewritten to cover the significant advances in our understanding of this field.

Key Features
* Separate accounts of major mycorrhizal types, highlighting structure, development, physiology and ecology
* Integrative treatment, covering nutrient transport, roles of mycorrhizas in ecology, applications in man-made environments, and interactions with pollutants
* In depth treatment of evolutionary and developmental aspects, plus closer examination of external mycelium, and transport processes
* Appreciation of diversity of form and function within major mycorrhizal types, and its importance in ecosystems ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The standard reference for mycorrhizal research
This book is a standard reference in the field of mycorrhizal research. Since the field is growing rapidly, it is somewhat dated, but still excellent, especially for a life scientist trying to learn about the different types of mycorrhizae. This is a technical book, and parts of it require some knowledge of plant physiology, molecular biology, ecology, or, of course, mycology. Still, it is the book I send people to when they need a reference, and my copy is getting ragged with use. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

A compilation of stories with mistakes
Despite the attention-grabbing subtitle, "The killer strain: anthrax and a government exposed," this book is no more than a compilation of newspaper-type stories with the same sorts of howlers that one expects in The Daily Bugle. There is certainly nothing new here. But how could there be anything new on a such a thoroughly reported topic? There is, however, fairly good organization, reasonable thoroughness, and at least an attempt at objectivity. I appreciated the book because it answered, for me, two questions that have nagged me: (1) Did CDC officials really fail to do their job properly or were they, like Ms Lundgren and Ms Nguyen, just exceptionally unlucky, and (2) Is Hatfill justifiably a "person of interest" or is he just a scapegoat for investigators who have failed to find the real culprit?

As for CDC culpability, Marilyn Thompson's leisurely account seems to confirm what I had suspected from less complete accounts in the newspapers: the CDC wasn't just unlucky, the CDC failed to do what the CDC does best, to thoroughly investigate the factors that have led to sickness or death and, by impartially analyzing those factors, to provide the public with recommendations that can be used to reduce future sickness and death from the same cause. What the CDC investigators apparently failed to do in this case was to thoroughly examine the operations of the mail handling facilities early on in the investigation. Had they seen the sorting machines in action they would have realized that these things can aerosolize bowling balls. Instead, they evidently remained convinced that anthrax in a sealed letter would remain in the letter through the sorting process. And if they had seen how the sorting machines were cleaned with compressed air, they would have seen that their concept of "no re-aerosolization of anthrax spores" was inapplicable in the automated mail handling environment.

The other issue of interest to me was the evidence against Hatfill. I couldn't tell from what I have read in the papers how strong it is. Now, from Thompson's book, I can see that it is only circumstantial, yet compelling. (It is certainly clear that Thompson believes Hatfill was the perpetrator.) I can understand why the FBI has had Hatfill under surveillance for two years. (On the other hand, the FBI seemed equally justified in their suspicion that Richard Jewell was the Olympic Park bomber and look how that case turned out.)

What's wrong with "The Killer Strain"? It's too long for one thing. Thompson goes on at length about a few characters, describing in more detail than I care for aspects of their home decor and personal grooming. More important are the factual errors which are so egregious as to make the entire text suspect. One Amazon customer reviewer already pointed out that Thompson has Trent Lott as a representative from Louisiana. My favorite is on p. 184 where she refers to the "notorious Tuskegee syphilis study...performed...in Macon County, Georgia. The Tuskegee study was performed in Tuskegee, for heaven's sake! Tuskegee is in Alabama. Would we tolerate a historian who wrote that Lincoln was buried in Grant's tomb?

In summary, Thompson has produced a "newspaper quality" account of the anthrax attacks that will probably be of interest to people who slept through the winter of 2001-2002. For this she deserves three stars. But there's nothing new in the account and the factual errors numerous and substantive enough that three stars is all she deserves.

Vivid in-depth reporting on the anthrax attack
Marilyn Thompson is a crackerjack investigative reporter for the Washington Post. So it's no surprise that she's turned out an excellent book on the anthrax attack that followed on the heels of 9/11. Her book is based on dozens of interviews and reams of documentation. It's very detailed, remarkably clear, and extremely informative. Reading it, you would think that the author had been there with a videocamera to record each event as it unfolded.

A few eye-openers from the book:

Prior to 1972, the U.S. government made (and eventually destroyed) 220 lbs. of weapons-grade anthrax. If dispersed throughout a big city, that's enough to cause 250,000 infections and perhaps 200,000 deaths. The Soviets made (and hopefully destroyed) much more.

The contrast between how authorities at all levels dealt with the contamination of the Senate Office Building and the threat to Senators and their staffers, compared to postal facilities and postal workers could not be more striking. This was not simply the case of one oversight or mistake, but of a system-wide reluctance to conceive of a significant risk to postal workers (two of whom died) or to contemplate closing down potentially contaminated processing facilities.

As has been shown in similar situations, such as the first appearance of West Nile Virus, so many government agencies get involved that any kind of coherent response seems to take far too long, if it comes together at all.

Despite years of warnings, laboratories, hospitals, doctors, police plus other agencies and facilities were "uniformly unprepared."

Early on, the government blocked the Centers for Disease Control from releasing information, leading to a major credibility gap.

The CDC's performance was far from ideal. Despite or perhaps because of their expertise, they remained convinced that there could be no risk to postal workers, and clung to the standard (and usually sensible) medical reluctance not to prescribe antibiotics far too long, especially in the case of potentially exposed postal workers.

As Thompson points out, we now are painfully aware that bioterrorism is a reality. Anyone who is interested in the details of how the anthrax attacks unfolded, or who wants to be better prepared the next time bioterrorists strike, should read _The Killer Strain_.

Robert Adler, author of _Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation_ (John Wiley & Sons, September 2002).

Well reported, but a (mostly) slow read
This book is a little dense and sometimes repetitive. For those looking for a medical mystery this book will probably not be very satisfying. The point of this book, which is made several times and then some, is that the response from federal agencies to the 2001 anthrax attacks was not perfect. And those mistakes cost lives.

The history of US anthrax production was interesting and offered perspective, and the chapter on the US Justice Departments attack and smear of a scientist was good and should have been developed more.

Fine recapitulation of the anthrax mailings story
This is a very carefully written account of the anthrax mailings with an emphasis on the victims and the governmental response. It sheds little new light on the investigation which to this day has still not turned up a suspect.

Marilyn W. Thompson, who is an editor at the Washington Post, and her research assistants, Davene Grosfeld and Maryanne Warrick, interviewed scores of people from Leroy Richmond, a postal employee who almost died from inhalation anthrax, to Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, then director of the Centers for Disease Control, in putting together the story. But apparently they were not able to interview anybody in the FBI, nor did they talk to Steven J. Hatfill, who was dubbed by Attorney General John Ashcroft as "a person of interest" in the investigation and was prominently in the public eye as a possible suspect. Much of the material was culled from news sources and public records. Consequently, what we have here is a presentation of what is publically known about the case and a record of events.

One of the aspects that Thompson concentrates on is the differential between the public health response to the anthrax found on Capitol Hill and the response to that found at the Brentwood Mail Processing and Distribution Center in Washington, D.C. with the suggestion that there was a dual standard at work, one for the white and powerful and another for the black and blue collar. This may be so, but the most damaging criticism she presents--against the CDC at least--is their failure to realize that anthrax could escape a sealed envelope. However it could, and did, especially in the Brentwood Center.

Thompson does get into "who done it," hinting that Al-Qaeda may be responsible as she recalls the pre-9/11 activities of Mohammed Atta, alleged ringleader of the hijackings, who is reported to have met with Iraqi intelligence in Prague where he accepted "a glass container" that may have contained an anthrax sample. (pp. 53-54) She also recalls Atta's interest in crop dusters and his visits to a south Florida rural airstrip to check out an Air Tractor AT-502 crop duster. (p. 54)

Even more sensational (to me at least) is the write up of "a textbook description of cutaneous anthrax" by Dr. Christos Tsonas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida after treating Ahmed Ibrahim al-Haznawi, one of the hijackers who went down with United Airlines Flight 93 in Somerset County Pennsylvania, for a "dry, blackish scab covered wound" on his leg. As Thompson remarks, "skin anthrax could be acquired in only one way: through direct contact with anthrax spores." (pp. 51-52)

A lot of ink is also spent on Hatfill, although Thompson is careful not to propose that he is the culprit. What she does is give a report on his background including his partially falsified resume, including a false claim that he has a Ph.D in microbiology (p. 191) and a report on his soldier of fortune persona. She also quotes scientist Barbara Hatch Rosenberg's "likely portrait of the perpetrator," a portrait that fits Hatfill very well. (See pages 202-205.) However, Rosenberg also refused to name Hatfill. The way Thompson organizes this information in Chapter 15, "A Person of Interest," with the juxtaposition of the characterizations and the profiling and Hatfill's grand-standing insistence that he is innocence, suggests that he is, if nothing else, a prime suspect. Of course, this is nothing new. Since his name first surfaced he has been "a person of interest" in the media and in the minds of many people. But the FBI, despite investigating every aspect of his life, has failed to arrest him.

The big question here is why the FBI has not solved this case. As reported here and elsewhere the number of people who could have the expertise, the opportunity, and some kind of motive for this crime (involving "weaponized" anthrax, remember) probably can be counted without taking off our shoes. I have speculated that either the FBI has somehow compromised the evidence and is stuck without enough for an indictment, or the identity of the culprit (or the details of the investigation) would somehow embarrass the administration--or (that old standby) compromise the investigation of other, perhaps larger crimes or even crimes being planned. Thompson allows Rosenberg to add a third possibility, namely that the perpetrator "participated in the past in secret activities that the government would not like to see disclosed." (p. 204)

I have one small question. On page 174 and page 185 it is suggested that "over irradiation" of the mail (to kill possible anthrax spores) could cause those opening such letters to feel sick to their stomachs or feel some other illness. From what I know about the use of radiation to kill germs, whatever is radiated contains no residue of radiation (how could it?) and poses no health hazard whatsoever. Thompson's suggestion of the "post-traumatic stress of returning" to the once contaminated mail facility is the more likely reason for illness.

Bottom line: this is a thoroughly professional tiptoe through the tulips that allows Thompson to maintain a journalistic objectivity while pointing an accusatory finger at governmental incompetence in the face of the first bioweapons attack ever in the United States.

enthralling
enthralling,
I wrote this review which you now have posted under the author's name.

This book is totally engrossing from the first page to the last. It manages to take a story about a real-life incident (the anthrax letters of 2001) and spin it into a fascinating yarn that has shades of fiction. The characters are richly drawn -- Leroy Richmond, the devoted postal worker who contracts anthrax when his boss asks him to leave his work station and clean up some rubbish behind the anthrax-contaminated Machine 17; John Ezzell, the scientist who frets during sleepless nights about how to protect the public from this menace; Jeff Koplan, the dedicated bureaucrat who ends up being the Bush administration's fall guy. Despite its title, which is a play on words about anthrax exposure, Thompson tries to engage the reader and succeeds in spinning a story that informs, enrages and leaves lingering questions about our government's ability to deal with acts of orchestrated terror. Can't put it down reading. ... Read more

Book Description

A unique crossroads for mushrooms, Kansas is populated by a blend of northerners and southerners, serves as a western frontier for easterners, and harbors a few West Coast natives.

In this book, the authors offer a myriad of how-to's when stalking and using mushrooms, from identifying an Old Man in the Woods to sauteing a tasty Volvariella bombycina. Besides providing both the Latin and common names and descriptions of 235 species found in the state, they have included 150 color photographs of common and not so common species, a nontechnical key for identification, a calendar of fungal fruiting seasons, and a list of all 548 species that have been located in Kansas. And for those rusty on their Latin, they've included a guide to the origin and pronunciation of Latin names.

Mushroom hunters will find a number of useful tips in this book, whether they want to eat their quarry, photograph it, or examine it under a microscope. And to add richness to the sport, the authors have included an overview of Kansas geography and climate, a history of mycology in the state, and practical advice for forays in the field.

With something for the novice, the advanced amateur, and even the professional mycologist, A Guide to Kansas Mushrooms provides general explanations and advice, as well as descriptions of mushrooms found not only in this state but throughout the country, particularly east of the Rockies.

This book is part of the Kansas Nature Guides series. ... Read more

Book Description

A great many terrestrial plants live in close association with fungi.The features of this association known as mycorrhiza, are those of a mutualistic symbiosis. Almost all plants form mycorrhizae whereby the fungus provides soil resources to the plant in exchange for energy manufactured by the plant.The symbiosis means greater productivity under stress for the plant and a steady energy supply for the fungus.This book addresses the diverse and complex ways in which mycorrhizae affect the mechanisms for plant survival as individuals and populations, for community structure, and for ecosystem functioning. It integrates information on organisms interacting with mycorrhizae from bacteria to mammals. The author takes a unique evolutionary/ecological approach to describe how and under what conditions mycorrhizae influence basic ecological processes.The applications of mycorrhizal symbioses range from managing natural and agricultural lands to biotechnological processes that enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability. ... Read more

Book Description

Staphylococcus aureus is now acknowledged as being the most important bacterial pathogen of humans. It usually produces localized disease but can be rapidly invasive, spreading through the tissues, invading bone, and seeding the bloodstream to produce a fulminant picture of septic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and rapid death. Moreover, most strains of staph infections are becoming resistant to most antibiotics, thus posing a significant problem for hospitals and health care facilities. This book, a volume in the Infectious Agents and Pathogenesis series, presents chapters by the major researchers in the field. ... Read more

Book Description

A wide range of microbiologists, molecular biologists, and molecular evolutionary biologists will find this new volume of singularinterest.It summarizes the present knowledge about the structureand stability of microbial genomes, andreviews the techniques usedto analyze and fingerprint them.Maps of approximately thirtyimportant microbes, along with articles on the construction andrelevant features of the maps are included.The volume is notintended as a complete compendium of all information on microbialgenomes, but rather focuses on approaches, methods and good examplesof the analysis of small genomes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great book for mushroom lovers
This is a gem of a bookon mushroom but it is limitedto the species found in Northwest NorthAmerica: Nonetheless the book should be on the reference shelf of any writer and researcher keen on writing or knowing about mushrooms.I am not an expert in the study of mycology and my knowledge of mushroom relates to those used in culinary practices. Such day to day varieties a cepes, chanterelle, morel, portobello, shiitake, to name a few which I use in various dishes, though a few of them are mentioned, it is not to say that one cannot enrich his/her knowledge of the subject by perusing the book. However, as a lay person, I find the book loaded with descriptionsof some of the common and no socommon varieties, with each type identified as to its botanical name and characteristic. There are several which are poisonous and they are properly identified.What I like most and would like to refer to the readers is the definition of the mushroom on page 10 in the para titled:What is Mushroom". To a lay personthe definition gives the bsic knowledge about mushroom. The illustrations, incidentally, are so beautifully presented thatone would be tempted instantly to look for, pluck and eat. ... Read more