title: Hepatitis B: The Hunt for a Killer Virus
author:  Baruch S. Blumberg 
description: "Nothing seems quite so dramatic as the unexpected eureka moment, when, escoreted by the gods of good fortune, scientists somehow stumble upon answers to questions they never knew to ask. This is the story that Baruch S. Blumberg tells in <i>Hepatitis B: The Hunt for a Killer Virus</i>. Blumberg, a U.S. geneticist and biochemist, won the Nobel Prize in 1976 after finding a virus he was never looking for. . . . Blumberg does a fine job at connecting this medical advance to the lives of real people."<b>---Carolyn Abraham, <i>Toronto Globe and Mail</i></b><br /><br />"The discovery by Baruch Blumberg of the Australia antigen, a specific viral marker of the hepatitis B virus, was one of the most important advances in medical knowledge during the past 50 years and had huge implications for preventive medicine. This inspiring book is an intensely personal and interesting account of the work of Blumberg and his close associates who . . . devised the first generation vaccine for [the] infection. . . . [This book] is essential reading for all aspiring scientists. . . . And it should be read by the thousands of people who work on the control and eradication of the hepatitis B virus. . . . It is a gem."<b>---Arie J. Zuckerman, <i>Nature</i></b><br /><br />"Blumberg tells the [Hepatitis B] story in a lively manner, with touches of humor. The Nobel-Prize winning author has written for both scientists and nonscientists [and he] beautifully illustrates the forward, sideways, and backward steps involved in the scientific method."<b>---William Beatty, <i>Booklist</i></b><br /><br />"Blumberg takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the convoluted circumstances that led to the discovery of hepatitis B and the vaccine against it. Blumberg's modest style and vast knowledge combine to make this a thoroughly intriguing look at the scientific research process." (<i>Library Journal</i>)<br /><br />"This book shows that it is not the orderly, directed research program that leads to the Nobel, but rather the workings of the orderly, observant mind. . . . If poetry is a free-ranging , idealized representation of an idea, than this is poetry . . . and poetry should be read regularly for relaxation, for inspiration, and for ideas."<b>---Paul J. Schmidt, <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i></b><br /><br />"Readers will find much to enjoy and absorb in Blumberg's fascinating personal story."<b>---Robin A. Weiss, <i>Science</i></b><br /><br />"Blumberg chronicles with uncanny humor his research team's accidental discovery of HBV, their daily laboratory routines and methodology of research experimentation of HBV, and the eventual development of medicine's first viable cancer vaccine." (<i>Choice</i>)<br /><br />"This book is highly informative and entertaining. It offers a clear account of how basic scientific research is conducted and of the excitement of scientific discovery." (<i>Science Books and Films</i>)<br /><br />"The hepatitis B story is more than a fascinating chronicle of a major discovery. . . . The discovery of this deadly virus and the vaccine against it--a vaccine sharply decreasing the infection rate worldwide and probably the first effective cancer vaccine--was one of the great triumphs of 20th century medicine." (<i>Biology Digest</i>)<br /><br />"In this unapologetically personal memoir, the author tells the story of hepatitis B from his own perspective. . . . [T]he book becomes a distinctive part of hepatitis B history, and it will be an invaluable resource for medical historians in the future."<b>---Bud C. Tennant, <i>Nature Medicine</i></b>
zlib_text:  
  Cells 2020, 9, 834; doi:10.3390/cells9040834 
  www.mdpi.com/journal/cells 
  Article 
  Hepatitis  B  Virus  HBx  Protein  Mediates  the 
  Degradation  of  Host  Restriction  Factors  through  the 
  Cullin 4 DDB1 E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Complex 
  Marissa M. Minor 1, F. Blaine Hollinger 1, Adrienne L. McNees 1,2, Sung Yun Jung 2,3, Antrix Jain 4, 
  Joseph M. Hyser 1, Karl‐Dimiter Bissig 5,6 and Betty L. Slagle 1,2,* 
  1  Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine,   
  Houston, TX 77030, USA; mm3@bcm.edu (M.M.M); blaineh@bcm.edu (F.B.H); amcnees@bcm.edu (A.L.M.); 
  jh126641@bcm.edu (J.M.H.) 
  2  Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; syjung@bcm.edu 
  3  Department of Biochemistry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA 
  4  Mass Spectrometry Proteomics Core, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; 
  antrixj@bcm.edu 
  5  Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; 
  k