The HIV epidemic has spawned a scientific effort unprecedented in the history of infectious disease research. This effort has merged aspects of clinical research, basic molecular biology, immunology, cell biology, epidemiology, and mathematical biology in ways that have not been seen before. In The Evolution of HIV Keith A. Crandall brings together researchers from these disciplines to present perspectives on both the molecular biology and molecular evolution of HIV.

The book is organized into three sections: "Introduction to HIV" explores the fundamentals of the virus's molecular biology and its global diversity. "Molecular Methods for Studying HIV Diversity" looks at such topics as HIV phylogenetics, modeling the molecular evolution of HIV sequences, the use of phylogenetic inference to test an HIV transmission hypothesis, and coalescent approaches to HIV population genetics. The third section,"Case Studies of HIV Evolution" examines the levels of diversity within and among host individuals, the phylogenetics of known transmission histories, and HIV evolution and disease progression via longitudinal studies.

The book will be of interest to researchers and clinicians working on HIV, as well as scientists studying molecular evolution, population genetics, and evolutionary biology. Contributors are John M. Coffin, Keith A. Crandall, Joseph Felsenstein, Walter M. Fitch, Brian Foley, Esther Guzman, Paul H. Harvey, David M. Hillis, Edward C. Holmes, Marcia L. Kalish, Bette T. M. Korber, Julia Krushkal, Carla L. Kuiken, Gerald H. Learn, Thomas Leitner, Wen-Hsiung Li, Francine E. McCutchan, Spencer V. Muse, Oliver G. Pylons, Allen G. Rodrigo, Raj Shankarappa, Richard W. Steketee, Alan R. Templeton, Donald M. Thea, Raphael P. Viscidi, Steven M. Wolinsky.

Keith A. Crandall is assistant professor of zoology at Brigham Young University.