Toxin: The Cunning of Bacterial Poisons (a first printing)

Lax, Alistair J.

ISBN 10: 0198605587 / ISBN 13: 9780198605584

Published by OUP Oxford,uk, 2005

About this Item

uk1st.edition.1st.printing/fine hardback in fine dustwrapper.

Seller Inventory # 70sk d,mcf

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Toxin: The Cunning of Bacterial Poisons (a first printing)
• Publisher: OUP Oxford,uk
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198605587
• ISBN 13: 9780198605584
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

What do the following have in common: the promise of Botox as the key to everlasting youthful looks; E. coli O157 hamburger disease; a mysterious illness which killed 35 heroin users in 2000; and the assassination by poisoned umbrella-tip of a Bulgarian dissident in the 1970s? The answer is that all of these are caused by toxins, the powerful biological poisons released by bacteria and some plants.

In Toxin, Alistair Lax reveals the panoply of ways in which bacterial toxins overcome the defences of our cells. He explains how they work, how they are so successful in causing major diseases, the terrible human impact they have had, and how apparently 'new' diseases arise from them. He also discusses how we can combat toxins, and how we can harness their actions for beneficial purposes. Enlivened by the very human story of the persistence, rivalries, and insights from which modern microbiology grew, Toxin is the first widely accessible account of this exciting and important topic.

About the Author

Alistair Lax is Professor of Cellular Microbiology at King's 3ollege London. His research has focused on the interaction of bacterial toxins with the cells in the host's body. He has published numerous papers in international journals. This is his first book for the wider public.