TWiV 66: Reverse transcription

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson continue virology 101 with a discussion of information flow from RNA to DNA, a process known as reverse transcription, which occurs in cells infected with retroviruses, hepatitis B virus, cauliflower mosaic virus, foamy viruses, and even in uninfected cells.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.



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Weekly Science Picks
 Vincent Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS

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TWiV 65: Matt’s bats

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Matthew Frieman

Vincent, Alan, and Matt discuss a project to study the RNA virome of Northeastern American bats, failure to detect XMRV in UK chronic fatigue syndrome patients, and DNA of bornavirus, an RNA virus, in mammalian genomes.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #65 (58 MB .mp3, 80 minutes)

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Weekly Science Picks
Matt 100 Incredible lectures from the world’s top scientists
Alan The Amateur Scientist CD
Vincent The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

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TWiV 64: Ten virology stories of 2009

3D_InfluenzaHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Alan, and Rich discuss ten compelling virology stories of 2009.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #64 (68 MB .mp3, 94 minutes)

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Ten virology stories of 2009:

 

  1. Pandemic influenza: Swine-origin H1N1 virus (TWiV 36)
  2. XMRV, prostate cancer, and chronic fatigue syndrome (TWiV 50, 55
  3. AIDS vaccine ‘success’ (TWiV 51)
  4. Colony collapse disorder (TWiV 46, 49)
  5. AIDS-like disease in wild chimps (TWiV 45)
  6. Diverse viral community in Antarctic lake (TWiV 58)
  7. Polyomavirus seroepidemiology in humans (TWiV 26)
  8. Poxvirus threatens UK red squirrels (TWiV 63)
  9. Polio spreads from Nigeria (TWiV 29)
  10. How mosquitoes survive Dengue virus infection (TWiV 21)

Picture book on viruses for kids (Thanks Soraia!)

Weekly Science Picks
Rich Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton, Edward Hutchings, and Albert R. Hibbs
Alan Spaceweather.com
Vincent The Art and Politics of Science by Harold Varmus

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TWiV 63: Melting pot virus

marseillevirus_genomeHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Alan, and Rich talk about US government contract for freeze-dried smallpox vaccine, red squirrels in the UK threatened by poxvirus, and Marseillevirus, another DNA virus from amoebae built for comfort and speed.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #63 (64 MB .mp3, 89 minutes)

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Weekly Science Picks

Rich Infectious Awearables
Alan Darwine
Vincent Microbial Art

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TWiV 62: Persistence of West Nile virus

The_Persistence_of_MemoryHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Dickson, and Alan discuss STEP HIV-1 vaccine failure caused by the adenovirus vector, presence of West Nile virus in kidneys for years after initial infection, adaptation of the influenza viral RNA polymerase for replication in human cells, and the significance of the D225G change in the influenza HA protein.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #62 (47 MB .mp3, 66 minutes)

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Weekly Science Picks
Dick Smallpox – The Death of a Disease by DA Henderson
Alan Olympus Bioscapes Digital Imaging Competition
Vincent Microbe Magazine

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TWiV 61: Original antigenic sin

original-sinHosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dick muse about the symbiotic bacterium, Wolbachia, that protects flies from viral infection, the origin of 2009 influenza H1N1 virus, and the lure of original antigenic sin.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #61 (45 MB .mp3, 62 minutes)

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Weekly Science Picks
Dick New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers by Robert S. Desowitz
Vincent Information is Beautiful – is swine flu vaccine safe?

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TWiV 60: Making viral RNA

Hosts:Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dick continue Virology 101 with a discussion of how RNA viruses produce mRNA and replicate their genomes.



Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #60 (51 MB .mp3, 71 minutes)

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Weekly Science Picks
Dick The Double Helix by James D. Watson
Vincent Worms and Germs Blog

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poliovirus_rna_polymerase

TWiV 59: Dog bites virus

rabies_baitHosts:Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Gustavo Palacios, and Mady Hornig

A TWiV panel of five considers the finding of Streptococcus pneumoniae in fatal H1N1 cases in Argentina, hysteria in the Ukraine over pandemic influenza, and human vaccinia infection after contact with a raccoon rabies vaccine bait.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #59 (58 MB .mp3, 80 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Weekly Science Picks
 Rich Longitude by Dava Sobel
Alan Heil Pro Set Media Headset (for a good price, order from a ham radio store)
Vincent MicrobeWorld app for iPhone and iTouch (iTunes or MicrobeWorld)

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TWiV 58: Nipah virus in ferrets

NiV_brainHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Joshua Stillman

Vincent, Dick, and Alan are joined by emergency medicine physician Dr. Joshua Stillman to talk about passive antibody therapy for Nipah infection in ferrets, annual influenza immunization of children, facemasks to prevent influenza, predicting dengue outbreaks by the weather, and the amazing viral communities in an icy Antarctic lake.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #58 (52 MB .mp3,  73 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Weekly Science Picks
 Dick Science News article: Enter the Virosphere
Alan WHO H1N1 timeline interactive map
Vincent Cheap Google accounts storage and How CDC estimates flu cases

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TWiV 57: Virology in high school

spfhs_photo5Host: Vincent Racaniello

Vincent visited Scotch Plains – Fanwood High School and talked about viruses with high school biology students.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #57 (68 MB .mp3, 94 minutes)

Partial episode transcript at The Learning Blog

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Links for this episode:

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

The Hosts of TWiV

Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D.


Rich Condit, Ph.D.


Dickson D.
Despommier, Ph.D.


Alan Dove, Ph.D.


Daniel Griffin, M.D.,
Ph.D., CTropMed CTH


Angela Mingarelli, DVM


Jolene Ramsey, Ph.D.


CLICK FOR MORE INFO

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