This Week in Virology

TWiV 59: Dog bites virus

November 22, 2009

Hosts: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:

Argentine flu death mystery
H1N1 influenza outbreak in Ukraine (article one and two, and WHO statement)
Human vaccinia infection after contact with rabies vaccine bait
Agrippal S1 inactivated H1N1 vaccine (pdf – thanks Ariel and Ayelet)
Nick’s letter on viruses and life
Take the poll: are viruses alive?

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)

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

TWiV 58: Nipah virus in ferrets

November 15, 2009

Hosts: 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:

Post-exposure passive antibody therapy for Nipah virus in ferret
Image above left shows Nipah viral antigen (red) in ferret brain ependymal epithelium
Is yearly influenza vaccination of children a bad idea?
Debate on N95 masks vs surgical masks to prevent influenza
Weather patterns help predict dengue outbreaks
Diverse viral community in Antarctica’s icy lakes (thanks Russ!)
Tamiflu in Japanese river waters (see TWiV 40 – thanks Russ!)
Chlorine dioxide gas removes influenza virus (thanks André!)

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

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

TWiV 57: Virology in high school

November 8, 2009

Host: 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:

Vincent’s presentation (9.5 MB pdf)
Thank you letters
Oncolytic reovirus
Does rhinovirus interfere with influenza?
Dr. Fernandez has posted a partial transcript of this episode at The Learning Blog

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

TWiV 56: Perspicuously perspicacious

November 1, 2009

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Cliff Mintz

Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Cliff answer questions from listeners on swine influenza origins, transmission, virulence, and vaccines, HIV and AIDS, and more.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #56 (57 MB .mp3, 82 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Physicists propose ‘Schrödinger’s Virus‘ experiment (thanks Duncan)
Nanoparticle adjuvant (ScienceDaily and Journal of Controlled Release – thanks Jim)
Hand washing won’t stop H1N1 at Newsweek (thanks Jim)
Newsweek’s virus quiz
TWiV timeline (download .m4v file – thanks Ricardo)
Sanjay Gupta’s H1N1 experience (thanks Lenn)
Swine flu vaccine fear mongering at eSkeptic (thanks Jesper)
Flu transmission and humidity (letter from Joe)

Weekly Science Picks
Dick 27″ iMac and Powers of Ten by Philip Morrison and Phyllis Morrison
Alan ImageMagick
Cliff ePatient Connections 2009
Vincent Cell size and scale

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

TWiV 55: Mice lie, monkeys exaggerate

October 25, 2009

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, Jason Rodriguez, and Rich Condit

The largest TWiV panel ever assembled takes on XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome, 2009 chemistry Nobel prizes for ribosome structure, finding new poxvirus vaccine candidates, a brouhaha over leaked Canadian data on influenza susceptibility, and transmission of H1N1 influenza to a pet ferret.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #55 (66 MB .mp3, 91 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome
XMRV not found in German prostate cancer
2009 Chemistry Nobel Prize for ribosome structure
New poxvirus vaccines (e! Science and Virology articles – thanks Jim!)
Seasonal flu shots and susceptibility to 2009 H1N1 (one, two, and three)
Pet ferret gets H1N1 influenza from owner

Weekly Science Picks
Dick Nikon photomicroscopy contest winners at SciAm (Dick’s article on vertical farming)
Alan Make:
Rich BBC’s Planet Earth (DVD at Amazon)
Jason The Collider, the Particle and a Theory About Fate
Vincent An Epidemic of Fear and Misinformants at Wired Magazine

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

TWiV 54: Professor Lynn Enquist, virology luminary

October 18, 2009

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Lynn Enquist

Vincent speaks with Lynn Enquist about his career in virology, moving from academia to industry and back. Along the way he did pioneering research on bacteriophage, participated in the birth of recombinant DNA technology, and studied herpesviruses.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #54 (63 MB .mp3, 87 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Holliday junction
Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA
Restriction enzymes
Movies of herpesvirus movement in nerve cells
The ‘other‘ Enquist lab
Can you find the TWiV 54 hosts in this photo?

Weekly Science Picks
Lynn Francis Crick: Hunter of Life’s Secrets by Robert Olby
Vincent ViralZone

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

TWiV 53: The ends justify the means

October 11, 2009

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Dick, and Alan talk about Nobel prizes for telomere research, bacteriophages that protect aphids from wasps, salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality, and hand washing.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #53 (45 MB .mp3, 62 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Nobel Prizes for telomere research
Bacteriophages encode toxins that protect aphids from wasps
14 year old dies after receiving HPV vaccine
Salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality
Canadian microbiologist says hand washing is not proven to prevent influenza
Surgical mask vs N95 respirator for preventing influenza
Americans unsure about receiving pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine
DnaTube (thanks Jim!)
Laboratory Director certification (pdf – thanks Megan!)
Plant production of pharmaceuticals (pdf one and pdf two – thanks Ed!)

Weekly Science Picks
Alan scienceline
Dick Younger by Judith Sulzberger MD
Vincent FluView

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

TWiV 52: Scott Hammer, MD on AIDS vaccines

October 4, 2009

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Scott Hammer, MD

Vincent and Dr. Scott Hammer talk about different types of AIDS vaccines and how they are tested in clinical trials.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #52 (51 MB .mp3, 71 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

PAVE 100 trial cancelled
HIV vaccine shows promise for the first time
Description of the Thailand AIDS program
NEJM review on why AIDS vaccine is difficult (pdf)
Arguments for the AIDS vaccine trial in Thailand
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

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

TWiV 51: ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX B/E

September 27, 2009

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Dick, and Alan (with a cameo appearance by Rich Condit) review the world’s largest Phase III study of a complex HIV vaccine candidate in Thailand, immunization of salmon against infectious salmon anemia virus, and an outbreak of blueberry shock virus in Michigan.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #51 (60 MB .mp3, 84 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

HIV vaccine shows promise for the first time – description of the program, FDA background document (pdf), NEJM review on why AIDS vaccine is difficult (pdf), and arguments for the trial
Chile immunizes salmon (USGS article on the virus, pdf)
Blueberry virus strikes Michigan research center (information on the disease and the virus)
Rotavirus seasonality (thanks Didier!)
Viruses and the tree of life at virology blog
Big brains have evolved twice (thanks Arsen!)

Weekly Science Picks
Alan Bat Rabies and Other Lyssavirus Infections
Dick Boosting Vaccines: The Power of Adjuvants (Scientific American; subscription required)
Vincent The Ig Nobel Prizes by Marc Abrahams

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

TWiV 50: XMRV

September 20, 2009

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Jason Rodriguez

Vincent and Jason review influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine trials and protection against the virus conferred by the 1976 swine flu vaccine, then move on to a virus called XMRV and its possible role in prostate cancer.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #50 (54 MB .mp3, 74 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

One dose of influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine without adjuvant is enough
Partially completed study on influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine with MF59 adjuvant
1976 swine flu vaccine induces cross-reactive antibodies against influenza 2009 H1N1 strain
Explanation of hemagglutination-inhibition and microneutralization assays
FDA approves influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine
XMRV is present in malignant prostatic epithelium and is associated with prostate cancer
Identification of a novel gammaretrovirus in prostate tumors
CDC page on Guillain-Barré syndrome