Structural Biology Of Viruses

Historically, structural biology and virology have been separate disciplines, with the field of virology developing around particular virus families. However, recent advances in the techniques of structural biology, including high-performance computing and graphics visualization, X-ray crystallography, and electron microscopy, coupled with continued progress in molecular biology and virology have caused a major convergence of interests. "Structural virology" now provides some of the most outstanding examples of structure-function relationships in biology. Viruses encounter many common problems in their life cycles, and so the solutions that they have evolved provide instructive contrasts between different biological strategies for survival. These ideas are illustrated by each of the different chapters, most of which cover a viral system that well illustrates a particular biological function. The goal of this book is to unite the structural and biological aspects of virus function. With this in mind, each chapter has been written explicitly by experts to address a broad audience ranging from graduate students to researchers in structural biology, virology, molecular biology, and biochemistry.