Virus: The Co-Discoverer of HIV Tracks Its Rampage and Charts the Future

Reminiscent of Paul De Kruif's 1926 classic Microbe Hunters, this highly engaging scientific adventure story by the noted French virologist who was a codiscoverer of HIV begins with a short sketch of Montagnier's youth and early career as a researcher before launching into the more exciting narrative of his pursuit of the causes of AIDS after the epidemic emerged in 1981. The most compelling aspect of the story is Montagnier's account of the very public competition between his laboratory and that of his American rival, Dr. Robert Gallo. This version is far more generous to Gallo than other published accounts, particularly Randy Shilts's in And the Band Played On. Montagnier's ability to present highly complicated scientific material in accessible language is especially useful in the second half of his memoir, when he explains the impact of the AIDS pandemic around the world. His informative narrative covers such issues as epidemiological transmission patterns (""heterosexual transmission... represents 90% of cases"" worldwide); needle exchanges, which he contends ""are not an incitement to drug use as some detractors claim""; and how multiple risk factors increase the possibility of HIV transmission. Montagnier ends the book with a cautiously optimistic view of the future, reckoning that more research, sensible risk reduction and humane social and medical policies may make the AIDS epidemic manageable, if not bring it completely under control. (Nov.)