TWiV 838: The magic virus bus

The New York City Virus Hunters join TWiV to reveal how local students engage in safe virus surveillance and conduct science research right in their neighborhoods, followed by an update on variant of concern Omicron.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Guests: Teresa Bautista, Isabel Francisco, Jesus Gonzales, Joel Gonzalez, Florian Krammer, and Christine Marizzi,

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Weekly Picks 1:18:48

Dickson – Plant Habitat-04
Brianne – The Coronavirus in a Tiny Drop
Rich – Prophet in Purgatory by Jon Cohen
Vincent – “ ’—All You Zombies—’ ” by Robert A. Heinlein (pdf)

Listener Picks

Mike – The Coronavirus in a Tiny Drop

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 837: COVID-19 clinical update #91 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In COVID-19 clinical update #91, Dr. Griffin discusses final results of molnupiravir trial, Omicron variant of concern, outcomes in B-cell depleted patients, recovery in T-cell depleted macaques, peptide for induction of T cell immunity, high respiratory viral RNA loads in infants, IgA and T cells transferred to breast milk after vaccination, sensitivity and specificity of ID NOW, post-acute sequelae at 12 months, disease in low and middle income countries.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 836: OMG, Omicron!

TWiV reveals all that we know so far about the variant of concern B.1.1.529, also called Omicron, and describes a study on the ability of the alpha, beta, and delta variants to reproduce in cells in culture and induce membrane fusion.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

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Weekly Picks 1:37:49

Brianne – Immune
Kathy – Elizabeth Lee Hazen and Rachel Fuller Brown, discoverers of nystatin one and two
Alan – Four Lost Cities by Analee Newitz
Vincent – Deadly Choices by Paul Offit

Listener Picks

Ryan – Ronny Jackson (one and two)

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 835: Giving thanks for antibodies

TWiV reviews why children should be vaccinated against COVID-19, increased risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 Beta, Gamma, and Delta variant compared to Alpha variant in vaccinated but not recovered individuals, and immune correlates of protection from the mRNA-1273 vaccine efficacy trial.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Brianne Barker

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Weekly Picks 1:16:21

Dickson – Pee Wee Herman aka Paul Rubens
Brianne – APOD: Pleiades
Vincent – A History of Poliomyelitis by JR Paul

Listener Picks

Richard – Let’s talk about a familiar problem and a new tactic….
Sherri – Have the New Jab

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 834: COVID-19 clinical update #90 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In COVID-19 clinical update #90, Dr. Griffin covers FDA expansion for booster doses, 3 more at home antigen tests approved by FDA, immune correlates analysis of mRNA-1273 vaccine, risk for stillbirth, PROVENT prophylaxis trial results, fluvoxamine recommendations, advice on molnupiravir, automated text messaging service for monitoring illness, and long COVID-19 after vaccination and infection.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 834 (25 MB .mp3, 41 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 833: Grand theft kinesin

TWiV reviews Michael Worobey’s dissection of the early COVID-19 cases in Wuhan, and the discovery that herpesviruses assimilate cellular kinesin to produce motorized virus particles.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

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Weekly Picks 1:21:41

Kathy – Power of poop
Alan – Under the Sky We Make, by Kimberly Nicholas
Vincent – Enzymatic amplification of beta-globing sequences

Listener Picks

Paula – Reasons to be Cheerful and The Night Witches by Bruce Myles
Grant – George Carlin – Germs, Immune System

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 832: Heavy metal flu fighters

TWiV reviews the vials labeled smallpox that were not, re-emergence of enterovirus D68 in Europe, efficacy of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, and cellular correlates of protection for an oral influenza virus vaccine.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Amy Rosenfeld

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Weekly Picks 1:30:40

Dickson – Rodney Dangerfield
Amy – Calder at MoMA
Rich – ‘Useless Specks of Dust’ Turn Out to Be Building Blocks of All Vertebrate Genomes
Vincent – Structure of small viruses

Listener Picks

Charles – It is raining you lied to me
Dave – A Whole New Ball Game

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 831: COVID-19 clinical update #89 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In COVID-19 clinical update #89, Dr. Griffin reviews upcoming meeting on FDA emergency use authorization for molnupiravir, 25% of US cases in children, reinfection associates with presence of antibodies, national surveillance for acute flaccid myelitis in the US, and monoclonal antibody treatment of infection in vaccinated, high-risk individuals.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 831 (20 MB .mp3, 33 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 830: A culture of resistance

TWiV explains that a recent report suggesting that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein inhibits V(D)J recombination in vitro would not impact immunity after infection or vaccination, and describes the isolation of remdesivir resistant mutants in cells in culture, and the emergence of amino acid changes in the spike protein identical to those in variants of concern, in the absence of immune selection.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

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Weekly Picks 1:44:00

Kathy – When do we get back to normal? Maybe now.
Rich – The Covid-19 Pandemic
Alan – Yaupon Brothers American tea
Vincent – Cracking the genetic code (and Niremberg’s account)

Listener Picks

Justin – Partisan vaccination
Lisa – The Red Flag

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 829: Antiviral and cytotoxically empowered for COVID-19

A TWiV duo reviews how SARS-CoV-2 attacks the olfactory mucosa but spares the olfactory bulb, vaccination with BNT162b2 induces virus-specific stem cell memory T cells, and development of an oral protease inhibitor for the treatment of COVID-19.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Brianne Barker

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Weekly Picks 1:29:29

Brianne – Coronavirus Neutralizing Antibodies and mRNA Vaccine Video
Vincent – MHC restriction of cytotoxic T cell lysis (Nobel description)

Listener Picks

Lisa – Shall Furnish Medicine
Bistra – Saving the World by Julia Alvarez

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

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