TWiV notes the passing of virologist Diane Griffin, first H5N1 influenza virus in US pigs, Innate immune control of influenza virus interspecies adaptation via IFITM3, and antiviral trained innate immunity in alveolar macrophages after SARS-CoV-2 infection reduces secondary influenza A virus disease.
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker
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Download TWiV 1165 (63 MB .mp3, 105 min)
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Links for this episode
- MicrobeTV Discord Server
- MicrobeTV Fundraiser 6:07
- Diane Griffin passes (Johns Hopkins) 7:29
- Diane Griffin on TWiV 453 7:34
- First H5N1 influenza virus in US pigs (CIDRAP) 11:16
- IFITM3 controls interspecies influenza virus infection (Nat Comm) 15:58
- Trained innate immunity by alveolar macrophages (Immunity) 36:46
- Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!
Weekly Picks 1:21:01
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Brianne – October 27 APoD: Bat nebula
Dickson – Nikon Small World Contest 2024 winners
Kathy – AAAS 150th anniversary video, celebrating scientists and Pew’s 2024 annual Trust in Science survey findings
Rich – Cats Basically Are a Liquid After All, Study Confirms
Alan – HHMI’s Beautiful Biology site
Vincent – EcoHealth Alliance Fights Back
Listener Picks
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Anne – Reasons to be cheerful
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The post TWiV 1165: What doesn’t kill us primes our macrophages first appeared on This Week in Virology.
In your tangent on elimination of variola stocks, you mentioned that it would be possible to reconstruct the virus from the sequence data. Is that really possible? I assume Rich would have commented if it were not, but I was under the impression that it would either not be possible or very difficult. Poxvirus DNA is not infectious, so you couldn’t just transfect it and get virus replication. Early gene expression occurs within the partially disassembled virion, so the genome needs to come in with the associated enzymes and structures. I suppose someone could try transfecting variola DNA into a vaccinia infected cell, to try to get variola genomes packaged into a vaccinia particle, then on the next round of infection authentic variola virions could be made. But that hasnt been done as far as I know, and Im not sure if it would actually work.
Rich and Grant McFadden have said before on TWiV that it is technically possible to reconstruct smallpox virus from the sequence. We’ve even discussed how to do it, using a related helper virus they seemed to think it would work. How long that would take is something else. Even in the best lab it could take a long time – or not. It depends on a lot of variables, including the ‘hands’ of the scientist doing the work. Without a great lab and great hands, I doubt it.
Hmmm… in my opinion it is theoretically possible, but you never know what kinds of logistical problems you run into when you actually set about doing it. My grad school project COULD technically have been completed in 2 years, but there were all kinds of unforeseen issues with cloning, expression and other parameters. Let’s not forget also, that there may be all kinds of strains in Novosibirsk and Atlanta freezers (and maybe others?), for which we don’t have an actual sequence.