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Preface to the Third Edition

It is with a true sense of our loss that the three of us sit in Irvine, California, Gainesville, Florida, and Taos, New Mexico, working toward completion of this edition. The absence of our friend and colleague, Ed Wagner, is all the more apparent as we write the preface to this latest edition of Basic Virology. In his spirit, we offer our colleagues and students this book that is our latest view of the field that Ed pursued with such passion and dedication.

In this new edition, we have attempted to bring the current state of our discipline into focus for students at the introductory and intermediate levels. To this end, we have done the job of providing the most current information, at this writing, for each of the subjects covered. We have also done some reorganization of the material. We have added three new chapters, in recognition of the importance of these areas to the study of viruses.

The book now includes a chapter devoted completely to HIV and the lentiviruses (Chapter 20), previously covered along with the retroviruses in general. Given that we continue to face the worldwide challenge of AIDS, we feel that this is an important emphasis.

You will also notice that this version now includes a Part V (“Viruses: New Approaches and New Problems”). This section begins with a consideration of the molecular tools used to study and manipulate viruses (Chapter 22), follows with coverage of viral pathogenesis at the molecular level (Chapter 23), and continues with a chapter dealing with viral genomics and bioinformatics (Chapter 24). We intend that these three chapters will give our students insight into the current threads of molecular and virological thinking. Part V concludes with our chapter on “Viruses and the Future” (Chapter 25), containing updated material on emerging viruses, including influenza, as well as viruses and nanotechnology.

A major change in this edition is the use of full‐color illustrations. We welcome this effort from our publisher, Blackwell Science, and hope that you find this adds value and utility to our presentation.

In conjunction with the expanded coverage, the Glossary has been revised. In addition, all of the references, both text and web‐based, have been reviewed and made current as of this writing.

Most of these changes were either finished or discussed in detail before Ed's untimely passing. As a result, we are proud to say that Basic Virology, Third Edition, bears the welcome imprint of the scientist/teacher who inspired the first one. We hope you agree and enjoy the fruits of this effort.

Marty Hewlett, Taos, NM, USA

Dave Bloom, Gainesville, FL, USA

David Camerini, Irvine, CA, USA