CAUGHT BY VIRUSES

The current book attempts to give a glimpse of the scientific life of Michael Rossmann. The book begins with his very interesting and moving autobiography. His enormous energy must have been evident already from early childhood when he and his mother had to emigrate from Nazi-Germany to England, via The Netherlands. Starting school with a new language was a challenge that he managed well with the assistance of understanding teachers. Crystallography soon became the tool to explore new worlds, unknown to everybody. With a skill for mathematics, he realized that the transform of a molecular structure in the diffraction pattern could be used for analysis of both symmetry and structural relationships. This method, molecular replacement (MR, also the initials of his name) became one of his great successes of his career. The previous book by him in this series (Selected Papers by Michael G Rossmann with Commentaries) covers his main contributions in this area. With an interest in symmetry, viruses became obvious objects to study. Rossmann attacked these monstrously large molecular assemblies with his unfailing energy and his appetite for real challenges. The amazing variation of molecular arrangements with icosahedral symmetry is truly amazing. This book includes a selection of reports of the structures of some giant viruses. As always, knowing the structure enhances the understanding of function greatly, in the case of viruses the mechanism of infection is a key problem. Rossmann has contributed many central insights in this area. Thus, this book is of interest both as an interesting personal story but also for research into viruses that repeatedly plague all living organisms on the planet, right now in the form of the corona virus pandemic. Contents: Preface Autobiography: Germany, 1930–1939 England, 1939–1956 England, 1939–1956 Purdue, 1964, until now References List of Publications Oral Story by Sondra Schlesinger, 1999 Selected Papers: Structure of Viruses: A Short History Structure and Function of Bacteriophage T4 Virus Crystallography and Structural Virology: A Personal Perspective Common Evolutionary Origin of Procapsid Proteases, Phage Tail Tubes, and Tubes of Bacterial Type VI Secretion Systems Refinement and Analysis of the Mature Zika Virus Cryo-EM Structure at 3.1 A° Resolution Near-Atomic Structure of a Giant Virus Obituaries: Michael G Rossmann (1930–2019) Michael G Rossmann (1930–2019), Pioneer in Macromolecular and Virus Crystallography: Scientist, Mentor and Friend Michael G Rossmann (1930–2019): Leadership in Structural Biology for 60 Years Michael Rossmann 1930–2019, Published on 15 May, 2019 Renowned Purdue University Scientist Michael Rossmann Dies Obituary: Professor Michael Rossmann 1930–2019 Michael G Rossmann (1930–2019) Michael G Rossmann (1930–2019): A Towering Figure of Molecular Biophysics Permissions to Include Articles and Other Material in the Book Readership: Structural biologists, virologists, molecular biologists. Michael Rossmann was the Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences and was a member of the Purdue University faculty for 55 years (1964–2019). He was at the centrum of the development of structural biology throughout his career. 'This is the autobiography of a truly inspiring scientist, Michael G Rossmann, who I worked with as a beamline scientist at the UK Synchrotron Radiation Source in the early 1980s and who I was glad to meet and discuss with ever since. The front cover of the book captures his enthusiastic smile. His lectures were full of energy, animation and achievements, even well into his eighties. This book captures all these features but also so much more.' See full review - John R HelliwellEmeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Manchester, UK & DSc in Physics, University of York, UK