PHILADELPHIA (November 16, 2020)—Two leading researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center are co-authors of the fifth edition of Principles of Virology, the leading virology textbook for undergraduate and graduate students studying how viruses reproduce and cause disease.
Anna Marie Skalka, PhD, professor emerita and former W.W. Smith Chair in Cancer Research, and Glenn F. Rall, PhD, professor in the Blood Cell Development and Function program and chief academic officer, wrote the text with three other renowned researchers from Princeton University, Columbia University, and Rockefeller University.
“We discuss principles rather than each individual virus and its idiosyncrasies,” Skalka said. “Instead, we talk about principles that apply to all viruses, but we use a lot of different examples to underscore themes. In this way, students do learn about individual viruses, but more importantly, they learn about common links or approaches among these viruses.”
Rall said the updated textbook is particularly timely, given the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s interesting to me that this wrapped up right before the pandemic hit. The timing for this book is kind of perfect, because so much of what’s discussed in the book is what we’re seeing borne out by this pandemic.”
According to the book’s publisher, it is “an extremely valuable and highly informative presentation of virology at the interface of modern cell biology and immunology. This text utilizes a uniquely rational approach by highlighting common principles and processes across all viruses.”
“In the two volumes,” Skalka said, “we discuss not only the aspects of the molecular biology and the reproductive cycles of viruses, but we explore the basis of viral pathogenesis, epidemiology, vaccines, and how viruses can be used as therapies for other diseases. So the books can be used as one course or two separate courses, one after the other.”
Although it is likely not the first thing that people think of when they think of virology, “there’s quite a bit of humanity in the book as well,” Rall said. “One of my favorite chapters is on HIV; that is a really emotional chapter because it focuses not just on how this virus reproduces and causes disease, but also on the human lives that we’ve lost as a result.”