TWiV 968: A spillover waiting in the wings

TWiV reviews eukaryotic viruses recovered from ancient permafrost, a mistake made by scientists on Omicron origins, and close relatives of MERS-CoV from bats that bind ACE2 for entry into cells.

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

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Download TWiV 968 (57 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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Weekly Picks 8:26, 1:26:21

Dickson – Alto Saxophone: Paul Desmond/Cannonball Adderley/Charlie Parker/Randal Despommier: Paul Desmond: Signature album: Paul Desmond:The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1961-1965). Signature song: Take Five (Dave Brubeck Quartet). Cannonball Adderley: Signature album: The Cannonball Adderley Quintet: Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. Signature song: Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. Charlie Parker (Bird): played in many groups: Signature album: Dizzy Gillespie and His Allstars. Signature song: A Night In Tunisia; Randal Despommier: Signature album: A Midsummer Odyssey. Signature song: I Hope It’s Spring For You.
Brianne – How a See-Through Frog Hides its Red Blood from Predators (also covered in The Atlantic)
Rich – Mindfulness in Plain English by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana
Vincent – Unveiling skin macrophage dynamics explains both tattoo persistence and strenuous removal

Listener Picks

Rona – WKCR, FM 89.9 Columbia‘s radio station
Alan – XKCD Proxy Variable

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 967: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses how immunological dysfunction persists for 8 months following initial mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza coinfection and clinical characteristics among children and adolescents aged <18 years who were hospitalized or died with Influenza, WHO estimates of excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, reconsideration of anti-nucleocapsid IgG antibody as a marker of SARS-CoV-2 infection post-vaccination for mild COVID-19 patients, impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on inpatient clinical outcome, clinical features and burden of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents, similar SARS-CoV-2 Ct value distributions in anterior nares versus nasopharyngeal samples from symptomatic children during Delta and Omicron surges, early estimates of bivalent mRNA vaccine effectiveness in preventing COVID-19, effect of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir vs Placebo on COVID-19─related hospitalizations and other medical visits, COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma outpatient therapy to prevent outpatient hospitalization, bacterial co-infection and empirical antibiotic therapy in patients with COVID-19, association of time to surgery after COVID-19 infection with risk of postoperative cardiovascular morbidity, demonstration of stable clusters of symptoms in long COVID, and how longitudinal analysis of t cells in COVID-19 survivors with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 reveals associations between individual symptoms and inflammatory indexes.

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 966: 1918 influenza with Jeffery Taubenberger

Vincent travels to the NIH campus to speak with Jeffery Taubenberger about his career, the 1918 influenza pandemic, deciphering the genome sequence of the virus from tissues of disease victims and using it to rescue infectious virus.

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Jeffery Taubenberger

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 965: Asking Esper Kallas for some I.D.

Brazilian infectious diseases physician Esper Kallas returns to TWiV to discuss the state of viral diseases in his country, including those cause by Zika, dengue, and yellow fever viruses, MPOX, and SARS-CoV-2.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Alan Dove

Guest: Esper Kallas

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Weekly Picks 1:24:14

Alan – A Voyage for Madmen
Vincent – Some favorite holiday cookies: pignoli cookies and pfeffernusse

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 964: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses progress toward poliomyelitis eradication in Afghanistan, reduced risk for Mpox after receipt of 1 or 2 doses of JYNNEOS vaccine compared with risk among unvaccinated persons, reduced airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 BA.1 Omicron virus in Syrian hamsters, authorized updated (Bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines for children down to 6 months of age, low neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2.75.2, BQ.1.1, and XBB.1 by parental mRNA vaccine or a BA.5-bivalent booster, efficacy of antiviral agents against omicron subvariants BQ.1.1 and XBB, incidence of viral rebound after treatment with Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir and Molnupiravir, and the effectiveness of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine in the prevention of post–COVID-19 conditions.

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Download TWiV 964 (25 MB .mp3, 42 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 963: Feline coronavirus with Gary Whittaker

Vincent travels to Cornell University to speak with Gary Whittaker about regulation by proteolytic processing of the fusion activity of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, and feline coronavirus transmission, replication and disease.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Gary Whittaker

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV Special: Bivalent boosters with Paul Offit

Paul Offit returns to TWiV to discuss why the bivalent booster dosing story should be a cautionary tale of how not to move forward in this pandemic.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

Guest: Paul Offit

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 962: Chiara Mingarelli takes the pulse of the universe

Astrophysicist Chiara Mingarelli joins TWiV to discuss her career and her work using pulse timing arrays to study the gravitational wave background, ripples in the fabric of spacetime that are caused by events such as the merging of black holes.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Angela Mingarelli

Guest: Chirara Mingarelli

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Weekly Picks 1:34:36

Angela – OpenAI Playground and Nature Milestones: T cells
Chiara – The Biggest Ideas in the Universe by Sean Carroll
Kathy – Recycling PVC and here and here
Rich – Brome Bird Care Squirrel Buster Plus  (Bonus pick: 1971 Volvo 142 Commercial – With John Cameron Swayze)
Vincent – Journey to the Microcosmos

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 961: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update Dr. Griffin discusses Mpox (formerly monkeypox) in women: epidemiological features and clinical characteristics of mpox cases in Spain, April to November 2022, triage of patients with Ebola virus disease, SARS-CoV-2 serology and self-reported infection among adults, serological markers of SARS-CoV-2 infection; anti-nucleocapsid antibody positivity may not be the ideal marker of natural infection in vaccinated individuals, sensitivity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein antibody for breakthrough infections during the epidemic of the Omicron variants, effect of wearing glasses on risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the community, and data-driven identification of post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection subphenotypes.

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Download TWiV 961 (17 MB .mp3, 28 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 960: Getting funky with Dan Wilson

Dan Wilson of Debunk the Funk joins TWiV to explain why he decided to take on science misinformation and how he critiques people who promulgate incorrect information.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Dan Wilson

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Download TWiV 960 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min)
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Weekly Picks 1:54:47

Dickson –

Jazz Project:  InstrumentalTrumpet: Clifford Brown/Miles Davis/Winton Marsalis. Clifford Brown: Signature album: Study In Brown, Signature song: Sandu; Miles Davis: Signature albums: Kind Of Blue; Sketches Of Spain; Porgy And Bess; Miles. Signature song: Time After Time. Wynton Marsalis: Signature album: Standard Time. Signature song: Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
Brianne – Physicists Create a Wormhole
Rich – Dec 1 APOD: Artemis 1 Flight Day 13
Vincent – An Ancient Language, Once on the Brink, Is a British Isle’s Talk of the Town

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

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