Three Roslin Institute scientists have come together to produce the sixth edition of the highly acclaimed Mims' Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease. Image March 2015 The trio of specialist biologists have re-worked and updated this must-have textbook for an audience of undergraduate students, clinicians and scientists looking to explore the basics of infectious disease. There are twelve chapters covering the essential features of infectious disease, including entry and spread, cell and tissue damage, persistence of pathogen and host defence strategies, including vaccination. Speaking about the textbook, Dr Bob Dalziel explains how the essence of Mims' original work is "set in stone", but that he has learned much from updating the classic book with new features and the latest infectious disease data. When asked about his favourite part of the book, he immediately answers Chapter Ten: Failure to Eliminate Microbe, the section most closely related to the area he has spent his entire career researching. The book however, he reassures us, is not 'hard core' but is essentially an informative resource designed to be dipped in and out of as the reader requires. And for those who like to judge a book by its cover, the bright artwork accompanying this latest edition is sure to make an impression. Proving that scientists aren't just about white coats and lab work, the colourful front cover was designed by Dr Prerna Vohra, an artistically-inclined bacteriologist at The Roslin Institute. Mims' Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, Sixth Edition by Anthony A. Nash, Robert G. Dalziel and J. Ross Fitzgerald is published by Academic Press and available from all good booksellers. The cover image was published in Mims' Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, Sixth Edition, Nash, Dalziel and Fitzgerald, Copyright Elsevier (2015) and is reproduced by kind permission of Elsevier. This piece was written by Eve Smith, an MSc in Science Communication and Public Engagement1 student at the University of Edinburgh. www.sciencecommunication.mvm.ed.ac.uk
