This Week in Virology

TWiV 79: Red hot chili viruses

April 25, 2010

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Alan Dove

Vincent and Alan converse about making published science accessible to everyone, global eradication of poliomyelitis, and whether a plant virus can cause disease in humans.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #79 (51 MB .mp3, 71 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Making published science accessible to everyone (Nature News)
Federal Research Public Access Act
Is disease eradication a waste of money?
Do we have an ethical obligation to eradicate polio?
Signs of progress in polio eradication (NY Times)
Polio eradication: Harder than it looks (Fortner)
Gates rethinks his war on polio (WSJ)
Asymptomatic wild-type poliovirus infection in immune children (J Inf Dis)
Can a plant virus cause disease in humans? (PLoS One)
Replication of tomato spotted wilt virus in HeLa cells (PNAS)
Glycine detected in comet (thanks Vincent!)

Weekly Science Picks

Alan Data.gov
Vincent foldit

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

TWiV 78: Darwin gets weird

April 18, 2010

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

Vincent, Alan, Dickson, and Rich talk about treating arthritis with a tanapox virus protein, Darwinian evolution of prions in cell culture, and the connection between cold weather fronts and outbreaks of avian H5N1 influenza in Europe.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #78 (53 MB .mp3, 73 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Treating arthritis with a tanapox virus protein that antagonizes TNF (press release and research article)
Darwinian evolution of prions in cell culture (abstract)
Simple diagram of prion propagation (Wikipedia)
Thoughts on the pursuit of success in science by Charles Weissmann
Cold fronts linked to European H5N1 outbreaks (PLoS Pathogens)
Simon Singh’s website and letter of support (thanks, Mary!)
The importance of stupidity in scientific research (thanks, Mary!)
Sustainable energy – without the hot air (thanks, Bernhard!)
World Community Grid (thanks Dave!)
Pre-order The Vertical Farm by Dickson Despommier
Letters read on TWiV 78

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson Medical News Today: Infectious Diseases and Eaarth by Bill McKibben
Rich U can with Beakman and Jax by Jok Church
Alan UnderwaterTimes
Vincent The Reef Tank

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

TWiV 77: Non-nuclear proliferation

April 11, 2010

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Alan, and Rich revisit circovirus contamination of Rotarix, then discuss poxvirus-like replication of mimivirus in the cell cytoplasm, and whether seasonal influenza immunization increases the risk of infection with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #77 (60 MB .mp3, 83 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Contamination of Rotarix vaccine with porcine circovirus 1 DNA
Do you want to know what is in your vaccines? Take the poll
Mimivirus replicates in the cell cytoplasm like poxviruses
mRNA capping and virus evolution
Association between the 2008-09 seasonal influenza vaccine and pandemic H1N1 illness (commentary)
Doane paper goes viral
Energetics of genome ejection from bacteriophage (thanks Gary!)
Five strategies for behavioral adaptation to pathogens and parasites (excerpt; thanks Wladimir!)
Letters read on TWiV 77

Weekly Science Picks

Rich The Way We Work by David Macaulay
Alan DimDim
Vincent Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky

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

TWiV 76: XMRV with Professor Stephen Goff

April 4, 2010

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Stephen Goff

Vincent speaks with Stephen Goff about the origin of the retrovirus XMRV and its association with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #76 (40 MB .mp3, 55 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Discovery of XMRV in prostate tumors
Association of XMRV with chronic fatigue syndrome
Enhanced infection of prostate cells by XMRV
XMRV and xenotransplantation

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

TWiV 75: Rabies rampant

March 28, 2010

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Matthew Frieman

Vincent, Alan, and Matt review contamination of Rotarix with circovirus DNA, antigenic similarity between 1918 and 2009 H1N1 influenza, a collection of rabies reports, and chicken pox mistaken for smallpox in Uganda.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #75 (57 MB .mp3, 79 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Contamination of Rotarix vaccine with porcine circovirus 1 DNA
Beak and feather disease circovirus (BFDV) threatens parrots
Antigenic similarity between 1918 and 2009 H1N1 influenza
Presumptive abortive human rabies in Texas
Rabies rampant: feline, immunization change, Indonesia, wolf, Texas bat, US equine (thanks, Lenn!)
Austin free tailed bats emerging at dusk
Suspected smallpox in Uganda
T-cell receptor therapy for AIDS (thanks Dorian!)

Weekly Science Picks

Matt Bitesize Bio
Alan Free printable graph paper (see also doane paper)
Vincent Avian Flu Diary

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

TWiV 74: Influenza with Professor Adolfo Garcia-Sastre

March 21, 2010

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre

Vincent speaks with Adolfo Garcia-Sastre about the origin, pathogenesis, and prevention of the 2009 pandemic influenza H1N1 virus.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #74 (34 MB .mp3, 47 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

Influenza virus receptor specificity and disease
PB1-F2 expression by 2009 H1N1 strain does not increase virulence
Protection against 2009 H1N1 infection by immunization with older strains
Passage in eggs changes influenza receptor specificity
Association between D222G mutation and virulence

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

TWiV 73: Entering the ends

March 14, 2010

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Dickson, and Rich discuss multipotent progenitor bone marrow cells as a reservoir of HIV-1, integration of HHV-6 into telomeres, and dispersal of West Nile virus across the US by mosquitoes.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #73 (63 MB .mp3, 87 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

HIV-1 infects multipotent progenitor cells
HHV-6 genome integrates into telomeres
A role for mosquito-mediated dispersal of West Nile virus across the US
Using tobacco mosaic virus to produce synthetic photovoltaic cells (thanks Nissin!)
Animation of HIV replication cycle (thanks Ilya!)
Can computer viruses evolve? (thanks Norman!)
Mumps outbreak in Israel (one and two) (thanks Ariel!)
Bocavirus infections in children (thanks Tyler!)

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson Whole-Genome Sequencing in a Patient with Charcot–Marie–Tooth Neuropathy (NEJM and NY Times)
Rich Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Synthesize a Human Gene by Stephen Hall
Vincent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections – videocasts

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

TWiV 72: Bucket of bolts

March 7, 2010

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

This week the TWiV team explains CRISPR/Cas, the immune system of bacteria and archaea, how novel viruses are discovered by deep sequencing of small RNAs, and the relationship between dry weather and outbreaks of West Nile virus infection.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #72 (62 MB .mp3, 85 minutes)

Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email

Links for this episode:

Review on the CRISPR/cas system of bacteria and archaea
Virus discovery by sequencing small virus-derived RNAs (paper one and two)
Dry weather induces outbreaks of West Nile virus infection (paper and comment form)
Vaccine needle size matters
Participate in the Personal Genome Project

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson Scientist as Chef by Dickson Despommier (pdf)
Alan Networked Organisms and Habitats (NOAH) iPhone app
Rich Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat
Vincent The Dish

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

TWiV 71: Please Mr. Postman

February 28, 2010

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

Vincent, Dickson, Alan, and Rich answer listener questions about maternal infection and fetal injury, viral gene therapy, eyeglasses and influenza, filtering prions from blood, eradication of rinderpest, Tamiflu resistance of H1N1 influenza, bacteriophages and the human microbiome, H1N1 vaccine recalls, human tumor viruses, RNA interference, and junk DNA.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #71 (63 MB .mp3, 88 minutes)

Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email

Links for this episode:

Maternal infection and fetal neurological injury
Filtering prions from blood (prion capture technology)
Eradication of rinderpest (Merck veterinary manual)
Podcasts from Life in the Universe course
Immune Attack video game
H1N1 review article and Holmes on genetic hijacking
Podcast on Merck vaccines
Ft. Lee NJ snowed in (jpg)

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson and Alan NSF/AAAS Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge
Rich Foundation by Issac Asimov
Vincent Natural Obsessions by Natalie Angier

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

TWiV 70: Hacking aphid behavior

February 21, 2010

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Dickson, and Alan consider a broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses, how a plant virus induces chemical signals in the host to maximize its spread, a new way to preserve viral vaccines at tropical temperatures, and the continuing story of XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #70 (56 MB .mp3, 77 minutes)

Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email

Links for this episode:

Broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses
Chemical signals induced by a plant virus attract insect vectors to inferior hosts
New vaccine technology to make viral vaccines stable at tropical temperatures
Second UK study fails to find XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome patients (pdf)
Nature podcast with Simon Singh and petition (thanks André!)
Letter on Wolbachia and bees (thanks Tom!)
Dickson fishing in Argentina (jpg)

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson Chemical Ecology – edited by Thomas Eisner and Jerrold Meinwald
Alan Scripps Center for Mass Spectrometry
Vincent Folding@home (thanks Jesper!)

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