The Good Virus

The Amazing Story and Forgotten Promise of the Phage

By: Tom Ireland

Narrated by: Ben Deery

How a mysterious, super-powerful—yet long-neglected—microbe rules our world and can rescue our health in the age of antibiotic resistance.

At every moment, within our bodies and all around us, trillions of microscopic combatants are waging a war that shapes our health and life on Earth. Countless times per second, viruses known as phages attack and destroy bacteria while leaving all other life forms, including us, unscathed. Vastly outnumbering the viruses that do us harm, phages power ecosystems, drive evolutionary innovation, and harbor a remarkable capacity to heal life-threatening infections when conventional antibiotics fail. Yet most of us have never heard of them, thinking of viruses only as enemies to be feared. The Good Virus prompts us to reconsider, and to discover, how these viruses could save countless lives if we can learn to harness their extraordinary abilities.

Taking us inside the ongoing quest to use phages’ powers for good, Tom Ireland introduces us to the brilliant, often eccentric, scientists who have fought to realize phages’ potential in the face of doubt and political intrigue. We meet the renegade French-Canadian scientist who discovered phages and pioneered their use as medicine over a century ago, leading them to be hailed as the world’s first genuine antibiotic years before penicillin. We learn why, in some pockets of the former Soviet Union, drinking a vial of phages remains as common as taking an over-the-counter drug. We follow the intrepid scientists and doctors now racing to make “phage therapy” work worldwide as the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grows ever more urgent—even as other researchers uncover how phages bolster our everyday immunity, help generate the oxygen we breathe, and furnish the origins for breakthrough technologies like CRISPR.

Unveiling the hidden rulers of the microbial world and celebrating the surprising power of viruses to heal, not harm, The Good Virus forever changes how we see nature’s most maligned life forms.

©2023 Tom Ireland (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A colorful redemption story for the oft-neglected yet incredibly abundant phage. . . . Ireland, an award-winning science journalist, approaches the subject of his first book with curiosity and passion, delivering a deft narrative that is rich and approachable. (Alex Johnson, The New York Times Book Review)

"As engaging as it is expansive, The Good Virus describes the distinctive biology and murky history of bacteriophage (generally shortened to ‘phage’), a form of life that is remarkably abundant yet obscure enough to have been termed the ‘dark matter of biology.'" (David A. Shaywitz, Wall Street Journal)

A masterful blend of jaw-dropping science and absorbing storytelling. . . . This book reminds us of the missed opportunities we simply cannot afford to miss again. (George McGavin, BBC and Discovery Channel presenter)

Great review on the history of bacteriophages

I loved the comprehensive review of the history on how these viruses were discovered and current efforts to study them as a potential treatment.

superb

loved all of it. great science. great narration. everyone should give it a listen. so informative.

Excellent read

Very well researched and well written. Good, current information; nice to hear that more and more research and work in this area is being done.

Excellent

Comprehensive review on all you need to know about Phages. Well written, never boring. It’s also easy in a way that it’s a joy to listen.

The history is fascinating

Well researched and written, I enjoyed this book a great deal and have recommended it to all my friends.

No brainer

Perfect! Book is mind blowing. Everything that needs to be known about phages are in it

Good One

I remember a cursory overview of phages in my high school biology class but my textbook didn't say much more than they were weird, not much was known about them, and they didn't have much use.

Western medicine is just waking up to the potential use (or misuse) of these ever present little critters and there just isn't enough knowledge or experience to make a conclusion about further large scale pursuit of their possibilities.

I hope Tom Ireland will revisit this story in a decade and add a few more chapters of future discoveries to the end of this book.

Besides, anything that uses CRISPR, looks like a rock drill from a mining quarry, and invades living cells to explode them, has to be interesting. Maybe a SciFi novel in there somewhere?

A very good introduction to phages

Having read “The Perfect Predator”, another good book on the subject, also with a T4 virus on the cover, this is a natural following. Is a very excellent writing on the history of bacteriophagology and their use in medicine. It is a “Who is Who”, until the date of publication and a result of an extensive research (the reference notes show it, on the print version). Being far from dry as a science book, it intermingles in the right amount: history, biology, technology, statistics, law, burocracy and even human drama, making a very enjoyable and informative reading.

Interesting book & terrible narration

For even a microbiologist like me, who studies antibiotics & phage therapies, this book is highly interesting & informative. The narrator on the other hand, is terrible. Can we please for once, get some who can properly pronounce the names of bacteria?!