At a time when hollywood producers jet in to script White House speeches, it comes as no surprise that politics often gets conflated with entertainment. But it may be surprising to learn that the nation's controversial new policy on bioterrorism was apparently inspired, at least in part, by a work of fiction.

Bill Clinton's enthusiasm for "black biology" arose largely from his reading of a novel called The Cobra Event, according to an account in The New York Times last August. The author, Richard Preston, has written several estimable nonfiction books, including First Light, a superb account of contemporary astronomy. But Preston is best known for The Hot Zone, a best seller that introduced the lay public to the ebola virus.