I came across this book in a university library and idly read the introduction for some downtime between work. It had me hooked from there. The idea oI came across this book in a university library and idly read the introduction for some downtime between work. It had me hooked from there. The idea of a mycological pandemic is not a foreign one today with the rise of the (great) Last of Us and other such media, but like most people, I did not know much of the history of fungal disease ravaging hosts as diverse as the American chestnut to the African clawed frog. Monosson shares this history in a straightforward way without boring, including lots of fun asides for trivia nerds and a number of helpful illustrations. Key names and ideas are gently emphasized by seamless repetition, and the book reassuringly leads us from alarm to hope, emphasizing the importance of serious care for screening, reducing our reliance on crop monocultures, and other measures to prevent the history of the cavendish banana repeating itself elsewhere.
There is only as much scientific detail as is needed and no more, so people without any background in genetics for whom something like CAS9 would be foreign are able to follow along nicely. In some respects, I wish there were more detail on this front alongside more illustrations, but that's perhaps only a matter of personal taste. I've been lucky to receive a substantial education in microbiology, genetics, and the like, but the only organism-specific study I ever undertook was mammalian and human biology. Yet more and more, I've come to appreciate how incredible the other kingdoms of life are!
One other aspect of this story that I was surprised did not play a larger role given the initial pitch was the idea of fungi adapting to infect warmer blooded species such as humans and how that might play out. Presumably, this is for two reasons: first, it would involve much speculation; second, it would require more scientific detail than is perhaps appropriate for this kind of popular science. ...more
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