Molecular Virology

In the summer of 1984, both of us were working with Professor Yechiel Becker in the Laboratory for Molecular Virology at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical center in Jerusalem.

In the early 1980s, Bernie Fields originated the idea of a virology reference textbook that combined the molecular aspects of viral replication with the medical features of viral infections. This broad view of virology reflected Bernie's own research, which applied molecular and genetic analyses to the study of viral pathogenesis, providing an important part of the foundation for the field of molecular pathogenesis. Bernie led the publication of the first three editions of, Virology. Unfortunately, we lost Bernie to pancreatic cancer soon after the third edition went into production. The third edition became Fields Virology in his memory, and it is fitting that the book continues to carry his name.