Viruses: More Friends Than Foes (Revised Edition). Karin Moelling

       Preface

      We stand on the shoulders of giants. Standing next to giants, I have over the decades made the acquaintance of some of the most prominent researchers of my generation — listening to and watching them, mostly with high admiration and respect, and sometimes contributing myself. On this basis, but also to some extent in opposition to what I saw, this book was initiated as an “anti-virus book”. Viruses as we usually encounter them are dangerous, terrifying creatures; they are destructive, threatening and downright nasty. However, they contribute to our existence, to our environment, to the development of life and to evolution. They are parts of our genes! This positive side of viruses and microorganisms is almost always ignored, and they deserve more credit for it than they are generally given. Here the reader will encounter this other world of viruses, and I hope that our journey through it will be entertaining, not sinister, not too scientific, always a bit relaxing, sometimes provocative, scientifically up to date, and sometimes a little futuristic.

      Every reader will find occasion to be surprised about the viruses: where they are active on our planet, in the oceans, in our gardens and trees, inside and outside our body — including guts, brain, or birth canal. The viruses influence our well-being, our souls, fear or courageousness, depression, freedom and decision-making — and to give an example: even obesity. Imagine, HIV-like viruses made egg-laying obsolete for us humans since millions of years. I hope that readers will be fascinated more than once — as indeed I was too during writing.

      I was studying and teaching about the disease-causing viruses for more than 40 years — which are not the main topic here — so, I know about HIV/AIDS — but I believe that most viral diseases are man-made due to poverty, lack of hygiene, mobility, or habits.

      The reader will set off on a journey into the innermost part of what makes up our world. Today, Goethe’s or Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus would quite probably be a molecular biologist — perhaps even a virologist, because the “Viro-sphere” includes the whole world, even the universe! Perhaps Goethe would have honored the viruses if he knew about their existence and their importance.

      Indeed, the “Homunculus”, which Goethe designed, places Dr. Faustus close to our molecular world. How did life start? And how does it end? How do progress and innovation come about — of course by viruses and their famous “sloppiness”. And the “noisy lemurs, which fall head-over-tail into their graves” can also be found here, even though they are not quite like those in Goethe’s “Faust” — in fact, they are very strange creatures, which since 13 million years carry HIV-like viruses!

      The book does not need to be read from beginning to end, but rather by choosing, picking, jumping, turning over pages, and skipping passages if they seem too difficult or contain too much scientific detail. A glossary and list of references is provided for further information. However, the end, the last chapter, is intended for everybody, as it condenses and summarises many details, with voices combined in a final tutti as at the end of a fugue by my hero, Johann Sebastian Bach.

      I take the risk of reflecting on how science progresses, and on what forces drive the everyday activities of research scientists. I consider myself as a witness, a spectator, who can describe some of my own experiences — though with the idea and the hope that they will be taken as representative and general, and not appear too personal. At some points my comments will be quite critical, but I write without bitterness or resentment — rather, slightly amused about what happened, what I missed, and what today still keeps me going. So some parts are detective story-like for entertainment. Other parts are rather philosophical, so you, dear reader, can choose.

      A colleague characterized the German version of this book as three volumes in one: a detective story about scientists, a popular account of science spanning many decades, and a philosophical work. I am not a philosopher, but science leads us to wonder and to reflect. Another apposite comment comes from the German writer and film-producer Alexander Kluge in his recent “Chronicle”, in which he describes me as story-teller of “Goodnight Stories”, just like the ones he liked to listen to by his nanny as a 5-year-old boy. There are two options, then, either you fall asleep or you find the stories amusing and simple enough to listen. I am writing not only for academic colleagues from similar or related fields, but also, and perhaps primarily, for students and for lay people of all kinds — readers who can simply ignore some of the more specialized scientific remarks. Read about Cesarean sections or Dutch Famine and their consequences for the newborns. Did you know that viruses can “see”? Or look at the chapter on tulips, the first financial crisis ever — with viruses as the cause! Thus, economists may also learn some surprising facts.

      Whom do I have to thank? All those whom I have met — not only the giants, because every human being is inspiring and has something to hand on to others. I have always liked to listen to the “little shots”.

      So many people and organisations have contributed so much to my life;