How viruses are integral to our health and well-being, from symbiotic infections embedded in our DNA to new vectors delivering cutting-edge gene therapies

Our bodies are home to viral multitudes. Live viruses circulating in our blood help protect us from harmful bacteria. Bursts of viral particles are released in our brains every time we make a new memory. A dormant virus is activated in nerve cells when we become excited during learning.

Following the traces of viruses from multispecies landscapes to high-tech labs around the world, Eben Kirksey describes the power of these invisible agents. They shape our minds, social relationships, financial markets, and ecological communities, and can even influence the planetary atmosphere.

Clever innovators throughout history have cultivated the art of spreading symbiotic viruses. Traditional Chinese medical experts began spreading beneficial infections centuries before Europeans developed the modern vaccine. Today, researchers are creating viral vectors to deliver gene therapies for cancer, blindness, and rare genetic conditions. You will meet the biotech entrepreneurs who have created synthetic viruses to protect human health and give our cells new abilities, the scientists who gave away their intellectual property to benefit humankind, and the investors whose ethical use of capital are creating unexpected symbiotic opportunities. Venturing to the markets of Wuhan and the bat caves of Southeast Asia, you will encounter surprising new insights about the emergence of COVID-19. You will also learn how to live with unwanted infections.

Symbiotic expands our understanding of the human condition by rethinking the concepts of individuality, consciousness, and harmony—and reveals why it is in our best interest to spread good viruses.