This Week in Virology

TWiV 204: M m m my corona

October 21, 2012

my corona Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Matt Frieman, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, Matt and Kathy review isolation of a new coronavirus from two patients in the Middle East, and expansion of the enteric virome during simian AIDS.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 204 (66 MB .mp3, 96 minutes).

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Links for this episode:

Novel coronavirus (virology blog one, two)
PCR assay for novel CoV (Eurosurveillance)
Isolation of novel coronavirus (NEJM)
SARS CoV now a select agent (Federal Register, pdf)
My Sharona
Pathogenic SIV infection associated with expansion of gut virome (Cell)
Letters read on TWiV 204

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Map of the Wind
Matt – Dark Side of the Earth; Insensitive guide to thriving in your Ph.D.; Gary Vanerchuck (YouTube)
Kathy – How much does a shadow weigh? and Slinky drop answer
Vincent – A Parasite’s Parasites; All the cool kids are on arXiv

Listener Pick of the Week

Nissin – Jungle Jim (1948)

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

TWiV 203: Mark Challberg, a cold room kind of guy

October 14, 2012

TWiV 200 3D phage plaque Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Mark Challberg

Vincent and Rich meet up with Mark Challberg to talk about his scientific career studying viral DNA replication, and his transition to an NIH Program Officer.

Click the arrow to play, or right-click to download TWiV 203 (69 MB .mp3, 96 min)

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Links for this episode:

TWiV 203 transcript (pdf)
Purification of vaccinia virus DNA polymerase (J Biol Chem)
Adenovirus DNA replication in vitro (PNAS)
Herpes simplex viral genes required for DNA synthesis (J Virol)
Letters read on TWiV 203

Weekly Science Picks

Rich – Mattel Hot Wheels Curiosity Rover
Vincent – Should H5N1 Moratorium End?

Listener Pick of the Week

Claudio – DIY lab equipment (Ars Technica) and DIY Bio

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

TWiV 202: Huskers go viral

October 7, 2012

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, T. Jack Morris, James Van Etten, and Charles Wood

Vincent travels to the University of Nebraska to meet with members of the Nebraska Center for Virology and discuss their work on algal viruses, plant viruses, HIV and Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus.

Click arrow to play, or right-click to download TWiV 202 (52 MB .mp3, 72 min)

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Links for this episode:

Weekly Science Picks

Charles – Rhabdovirus associated with hemorrhagic fever (PLoS Path)
Vincent – Bacteriophage graffiti (jpg)

Listener Pick of the Week

Bob – Remembering Penny Pinneo
Janet – Penn and Teller on vaccinations (YouTube)

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

TWiV 201: Rabid about viruses

September 30, 2012

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

Vincent, Alan, Rich, Dickson, and Kathy answer reader email about rabies, xenotransplantation, poliovirus, Ph.D. programs, mosquitoes, and much more.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 201 (90 MB .mp3, 125 minutes).

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Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Wallace Online
Rich – World Rabies Day
Kathy – Yo-yos in space
Dickson – The Art in Science
Vincent – The Podcasters Studio

Listener Pick of the Week

Wink – DuckDuckGo
Josh – Introduction to Solid State Chemistry

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

TWiV 200: Threading the NEIDL

September 23, 2012

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Elke Mühlberger, Paul Duprex, and Ron Corley

Vincent, Alan, and Rich celebrate the 200th episode of TWiV by visiting the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University Medical Center, where they meet with Elke, Paul, and Ron to talk about building and working in a BSL4 facility.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 200 (72 MB .mp3, 100 minutes).

Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Dance your Ph.D.
Rich – Angel of Death by Gareth Williams
Vincent – Why herpesvirus is good for you (Virgin lab)

Listener Pick of the Week

Luis – VBORNET maps

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV Team in BSL4 suits

TWiV Special: A paradigm for pathogen de-discovery

September 18, 2012

XMRV Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and W. Ian Lipkin

Vincent and Ian review a multicenter blinded analysis which finds no association between chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis and XMRV or polytropic murine leukemia virus.

Click the arrow to play, or right-click to download TWiV Special XMRV (53 MB .mp3, 44 min)

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Links for this episode:

Transcript of this episode (pdf)
Multicenter blinded analysis of CFS and XMRV/pMLV (mBio)
Press release on multicenter study (pdf)
Press conference webcast
TWiV on Facebook

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected].

TWiV 199: Of mice, ticks, and pigs

September 16, 2012

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

Vincent, Alan, Rich, and Kathy discuss recent outbreaks of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Yosemite National Park and novel swine-origin influenza in the US midwest, and isolation of the Heartland virus from two patients in Missouri with severe febrile illness.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 199 (73 MB .mp3, 101 minutes).

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Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Insane in the Chromatophores (Vimeo)
Rich – Golden Goose Awards
Kathy – Euler’s Disk (YouTube)
Vincent – Ignorance: How it Drives Science by Stuart Firestein

Listener Pick of the Week

Adam – Leigh Van Valen

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected].

TWiV 198: Pox has got a squeeze-box, seals are gonna sneeze all night

September 2, 2012

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

Vincent, Alan, Rich, and Kathy review fatal avian influenza virus in harbor seals, and poxvirus deployment of genomic accordions to counter antiviral defenses.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 198 (71 MB .mp3, 99 minutes).

There once was a virus named pox
Whose genome contained a squeeze-box
When placed under pressure
It expanded its measure
Overcoming the new cellular blocks

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Links for this episode:

Avian influenza virus in harbor seals (mBio)
Poxvirus genomic accordions (Cell)
Red Queen hypothesis (Wikipedia)
Squeeze box (The Who)
TWiV on Facebook
Letters read on TWiV 198

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Getting Better: 200 Years of Medicine
Rich – Khan Academy
Kathy – Vi Hart
Vincent – Tweet Keeper

Listener Pick of the Week

Diane – The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
Stephen – Amateur Micrography

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 197: Cloning HeLa cells with Professor Philip I Marcus

August 26, 2012

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Philip I. Marcus

Vincent travels to the University of Connecticut to meet up with Professor Philip I. Marcus to discuss his development of the single cell cloning technique in the early 1950s.