Further Readings
Blaser, M. "The Bacteria Behind Ulcers." Scientific American, February 1996, 104-7; Monmaney, T. "Marshall's Hunch." The New Yorker, September 20, 1993, 64-72. A bacterial culprit has been shown to cause many forms of ulcers, a disease previously attributed to stress. Over one-third of the world's population is infected with it. Calwell, J. C., and P. Caldwell. "The African AIDS Epidemic." Scientific American, March 1996, 62-68. Nearly 25% of the population in parts of Africa is HIV-positive. Could lack of circumcision in men in this region contribute to the high incidence of AIDS? Fenchel, T., and B. J. Finlay. "The Evolution of Life Without Oxygen." American Scientist 82 (January/February 1994):22-29. The role of the prokaryote in eukaryotic evolution is examined. Garret, L. The Coming Plague. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1994. Contains a frightening account of the development and spread of the ebola virus. Hoffman, M. "New Medicine for Old Mummies." American Scientist 86(3) (May-June 1998). Describes how current molecular biology is deciphering the mysteries of the past.		Iseman, M. D. "Evolution of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Tale of Two Species." Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 91 (March 29, 1994):2428-29. Drug-resistant diseases may be the biggest threat facing modern medicine. This article discusses the mechanisms by which the tuberculosis pathogen is becoming significantly dangerous. Laver, W. G., N. Bischofberger, and R. G. Webster. "Disarming Flu Viruses." Scientific American, January 1999, 79-87. A concise article that details our current efforts to evade the flu. O'Brien, S., and M. Dean. "In Search of AIDS-Resistance Genes." Scientific American, September 1997. A genetic allele that prevents HIV infection has been found. It encodes a defective cell surface receptor and offers promising avenues of AIDS treatment. Prusiner, S. "The Prion Diseases." Scientific American, January 1995, 48-57. Prions are infectious proteins. Once dismissed as an impossibility, they are now thought to cause a number of deadly infectious diseases. This article, by their discoverer, recounts his investigation of these novel agents, for which he was awarded the 1997 Nobel prize in medicine.
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