Viruses: Molecular Biology, Host Interactions, and Applications to Biotechnology provides an up-to-date introduction to human, animal and plant viruses within the context of recent advances in high-throughput sequencing that have demonstrated that viruses are vastly greater and more diverse than previously recognized. It covers discoveries such as the Mimivirus and its virophage which have stimulated new discussions on the definition of viruses, their place in the current view, and their inherent and derived 'interactomics' as defined by the molecules and the processes by which virus gene products interact with themselves and their host's cellular gene products.

1. Introduction: A Short History of Virology 2. Virion Structure, Genome Organization and Taxonomy of Viruses 3. Replication and Expression Strategies of Viruses 4. Origins and Evolution of Viruses 5. Host Range, Host-Virus Interactions and Virus Transmission 6. Viruses as Pathogens: Plant Viruses 7. Viruses as Pathogens: Animal Viruses, with Emphasis on Human Viruses 8. Viruses as Pathogens: Animal Viruses Affecting Wild and Domesticated Species 9. Viruses of Prokaryotes, Protozoa, Fungi and Chromista 10. Host-Virus Interactions: Battles Between Viruses and Their Hosts 11. Beneficial Interactions with Viruses 12. Viruses as Tools of Biotechnology: Therapeutic Agents, Carriers of Therapeutic Agents and Genes, Nanomaterials, and More 13. Viruses as Targets for Biotechnology: Diagnosis and Detection, Transgenesis and Rnai- and CRISPR/Cas Engineered Resistance 14. Concluding Thoughts: It's A Viral World