The Hot Zone Blog 2

I continued reading The Hot Zone This week pages 112-207.  Richard Preston does an amazing job at captivating the reader because the stories within the novel are genuinely non-fiction.  The novel goes into more detail about the strains of filoviruses and the various ways to distinguish them from certain bacterium look-alikes.  While the story remains frightening, it begins to explore more into political and economical reasons to consider when dealing with a level 4 hot agent.  It reminds me of a fiction book such as Harry Potter very much because of the subject matter.  At this point in the novel scientists inspect monkeys infected with ebola not knowing it which brings dramatic irony into context making the reading all the more exciting.  Cells are cut open and examined under an electron microscope with blades so sharp that they would not see resistance going through one's finger.  This is also an exciting book for me because I plan on going into the science field or at least use science in medicine as my career.  Something about being able to predict a reaction is interesting to me and I am always curious about things which I cannot explain.  Anyway, scientists in the novel try to pinpoint the source of ebola, but are unable to do so.  This may be because there are multiple sources, or because the virus is hard to uncover in its natural habitat.  For the virus to ultimately be effective, it doesn't have to win, it only has to not lose.  It is good at hiding in places it is comfortable with.