The discovery in 2003 of a new coronavirus as the cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) accelerated research into these potentially lethal RNA viruses. Thiel (Kantonal Hospital, St. Gallen, Switzerland) introduces 16 chapters in which international experts present a review of every aspect of research into the molecular and cellular biology of coronaviruses since the first SARS outbreak. In the first section, they focus on the molecular biology of the virus itself and topics including coronavirus entry, replicase gene function, reverse genetics, genome packaging, and molecular evolution. Part II reviews the coronavirus pathogenesis and development of a vaccine and other new antiviral strategies for controlling avian infectious bronchitis virus and other such viruses. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation 2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
