Institut Ramon LLull

How much of a threat to humankind are viruses and bacteria? Are vaccines enough to neutralize that threat? How can we fight a pandemic in a globalized world? These are the questions that Salvador Macip set out to answer in 2010, shortly after the avian flu had put the entire world on viral alert. In addition to his numerous works of prose fiction, Macip is a PhD in Molecular Genetics and he is also a researcher at the University of Leicester who has written a number of popular science books. This impressive skill set means he is able to describe, in both scientifically rigorous and clearly understandable way, the primary diseases caused by micro-organisms (flu, ebola, SARS-CoV, AIDS ...) and explain the dangers they pose to humans. Reading this book ten years after it was first published, one is surprised by the relevance of both its diagnosis of the risks and its final warning. Macip tells us new viruses will come that will present a global threat and we must be prepared to tackle them with a combined effort among all the different world leaders.