This Week in Virology

TWiV 233: We’re surrounded

May 19, 2013

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

Vincent, Rich, Alan and Kathy review aerosol transmission studies of influenza H1N1 x H5N1 reassortants, H7N9 infections in China, and the MERS coronavirus.

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Download TWiV 233 (71 MB .mp3, 98 min)
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Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Space Oddity (YouTube)
Rich – Walk through giant colon
Vincent – Transport proteins
Kathy – Vomiting Larry (YouTube)

Listener Pick of the Week

Tom – US patent system is broken (DailyTech)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 232: Gophers go viral

May 12, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Roberto Cattaneo, Reuben Harris, Lou Mansky, and Leslie Schiff

Vincent meets up with Roberto, Reuben, Lou, and Leslie at the University of Minnesota to talk about their work on HIV-1, APOBEC proteins, measles virus, and teaching virology to undergraduates.

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Download TWiV 232 (60 MB .mp3, 84 min)
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Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

viral gopher

TWiV 231: Hepaciviruses and pegiviruses in bats and rodents

May 5, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Amit Kapoor, Lan Quan, and Ian Lipkin

Vincent meets up with Amit, Lan, and Ian to discuss their discovery of hepaciviruses and pegiviruses in bats and rodents.

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Download TWiV 231 (55 MB .mp3, 76 min)
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Links for this episode:

Canine hepacivirus (TWiV 137)
Rodent homologs of hepaciviruses and pegiviruses (mBio)
Bats are a reservoir of hepaciviruses and pegiviruses (PNAS)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 230: Gene goes to Washington, flu chickens out

April 28, 2013

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

Vincent, Rich, Alan and Kathy review H7N9 infections in China, the debate over patenting genes, and receptor-binding by ferret-transmissible avian H5 influenza virus.

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Download TWiV 230 (73 MB .mp3, 101 min)
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Links for this episode:

Francois Jacob dies (The Loom)
WHO updates on H7N9
H7N9 is unusually dangerous (ScienceInsider)
H7N9 case imported into Taiwan
No H7N9 in poultry farms (Xinhua)
Supreme Court considers gene patents (TheScientist, Nature)
Patent my jeans, not my genes (Michael Wosnick)
Receptor binding by ferret transmissible H5 virus (Nature)
Microscale thermophoresis and bio-layer interferometry (Wikipedia)
Letters read on TWiV 230

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – World Science Festival
Rich – 3 years of the sun in 3 minutes
Vincent – The Origin of AIDS by Jacques Pepin
Kathy – Wringing out a wet washcloth in space (YouTube)

Listener Pick of the Week

Mark – Will it blend? (iPhone app)
Marianne – Enjoy your Cells

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 229: Partly cloudy with a high of H7N9

April 21, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Rich, Dickson, and Alan review the current status of human infections with avian influenza H7N9 virus.

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Download TWiV 229 (69 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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Links for this episode:

Hilary Koprowski, 96 (NY Times)
Koprowski, Kessin, Racaniello photo
Listen to the Music by Roger Vaughan
Influenza ocular infections (one, two)
H7N9 global concerns (NEJM)
Human infection with H7N9 (NEJM)
WHO Global Alert and Response, H7N9
Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus (WHO)
Novel H7N9 reassortant, implications for Europe (Eurosurveill)
Genetic analysis of H7N9 (Eurosurveill)
H7N9 compared with H7N7 outbreaks (Eurosurveill)
Image credit: Eurosurveillance
Letters read on TWiV 229

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Nature PastCast
Rich – How dengue does it
Vincent – Squeaky Squeegee Art by Deb Sklut
Dickson – Agritecture

Listener Pick of the Week

Mike – Chemistry in its element: Elements and Compounds

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 228: Cal Bears go viral

April 14, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Britt Glaunsinger, and Eva Harris

Vincent visits the University of California at Berkeley and speaks with Britt Glaunsinger and Eva Harris about their work on Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus and dengue virus.

Thanks to the Microbiology Graduate Students for hosting me at their annual symposium, and especially to Emma, Lisa, and Zoe for their wonderful hospitality during my stay.

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Download TWiV 228 (49 MB .mp3, 68 min)
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Links for this episode:

RNA element in IL-6 confers SOX resistance (J Virol)
Dual uORFs regulate herpesviral translation (PLoS Path)
Common viral strategy for RNA degradation (J Virol)
KSHV SOX and Xrn1 together degrade host mRNAs (PLoS Path)
Dengue treatment with Fc null antibodies (PLoS Path)
Early clinical features of dengue in Nicaraguan children (PLoS Negl Trop Dis)
Intrahuman dengue virus diversity (J Virol)
Dynamics of dengue disease severity (Sci Transl Med)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 227: Lacks security and bad poultry

April 7, 2013

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

The complete TWiV team reviews the controversial publication of the HeLa cell genome, a missing vial of Guanarito virus in a BSL-4 facility, and human infections with avian influenza H7N9 virus.

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Download TWiV 227 (69 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – NIAID YouTube videos
Alan – Lego insects
Rich – How to see the world in a grain of sand
Vincent – Vaccines, viruses, and the anti-vax movement
Dickson – Edinburgh Science Festival

Listener Pick of the Week

Stephen – Nature iOS app
Mehul – Voices for vaccines

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 226: Taking the viral A train with Terry Dermody

March 31, 2013

Despommier and Dermody Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Terry Dermody

Vincent and Dickson speak with Terry Dermody about his career in medicine and virology.

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Download TWiV 226 (67 MB .mp3, 93 min)
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Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 225: Transcripts from the inbox

March 24, 2013

virus inbox Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Rich, and Kathy read listener comments and questions on viral oncotherapy, science communication, a functional HIV cure in an infant, and much more.

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Download TWiV 225 (73 MB .mp3, 101 min)
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Links for this episode:

Plant viruses alter insect behavior (Sci Rep)
Circovirus in Shanghai
Letters read on TWiV 225

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Case stories about CoV-EMC (one, two)
Rich – The Self-Illusion by Bruce Hood
Vincent – Moving Targets

Listener Pick of the Week

Liam – eLIFE and Rubriq
Steve – Plant virus ecology (mp3)
Neil – World Immunization Week

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 224: A wide receiver and a natural defense

March 17, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, Kathy, and Dickson discuss identification of a cell receptor for the coronavirus-EMC, and the role of interferon-epsilon in protecting the female reproductive tract.

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Download TWiV 224 (69 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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Links for this episode:

Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 is CoV-EMC receptor (Nature)
Receptor for new coronavirus (Nature)
Broad reception for coronavirus (Nature)
SARS 10th anniversary (Science)
Interferon-epsilon protects female reproductive tract (Science)
Families fighting flu (YouTube)
Monitoring infections with online data (TWiM 41)
Natalie Portman was a scientist (NY Times)
Letters read on TWiV 224

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – 2013 Intel Science Talent Search awards
Alan – Krebs Cycle Rap (CDC)
Vincent – Jetpens (favorite one and two)
Dickson – Rabies death in organ recipients (CDC)