Nels joins TWiV to discuss hypotheses for the origins of Omicron, including that it came from mice or arose during chronic infection of an immunocompromised patient.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Nels Elde

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 861 (69 MB .mp3, 114 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Weekly Picks 1:39:04

BrianneGroundhogs Emerge From the Scientific Shadows
Kathy Zig-zag Coast Guard search pattern
RichMoon Phases 2022 (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)
Vincent Kevin Cowtan’s Book of Fourier and Live Fourier Transformation
NelsBiology versus bias

Listener Picks

DustyFighting bias in space

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV reviews a seminal paper showing that chemically modified bases in RNAs suppress recognition by Toll-like receptors, a finding that that was essential for the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 860 (76 MB .mp3, 126 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Weekly Picks 1:27:35

DicksonNASA Research Launches a New Generation of Indoor Farming
Kathy How Pfizer scientists transformed an old drug lead into a COVID-19 antiviral
RichFermi paradox
Vincent Racism not Race by Joe Graves

Listener Picks

JayRestoration of Ave Maria

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

In COVID-19 clinical update #99, Daniel Griffin discusses Omicron disease severity, neurologic manifestations in children, testing outcomes during multiple infections, boosters improve VE and VD, booster efficacy for ED and UC encounters, vaccines induce cross-protective T cell memory, and indications for monoclonal antibody therapy.

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 859 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

John Mascola joins TWiV to discuss the history and mission of the NIH Vaccine Research Center, how it prepared for devising pandemic vaccines, and development of the COVID-19 vaccines.

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

Guest: John Mascola

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 858 (130 MB .mp3, 109 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Weekly Picks 1:33:57

Brianne How Sesame Street is Handling the Pandemic
RichZamboni: How it works
AlanHow lightning starts
Vincent Buon-A-Petitti

Listener Picks

MeikaWordle

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

Jon Yewdell returns to TWiV to discuss how antibodies are made, vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, antigenic variation of the virus, booster shots, and more.

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

Guest: Jon Yewdell

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 857 (76 MB .mp3, 126 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Weekly Picks 1:22:00, 1:26:16

JonThe Premonition by Michael Lewis
DicksonNature photographer of the year 2021
Brianne Should BioBank Volunteers Be Warned About Mutations?
RichCzech singer Hanka Horká dies after intentionally getting infected by the coronavirus and Dena Dietrich Dies at 91
Vincent Cuore di Cioccolato

Listener Picks

BronwenSchools must stay open
JohnPandemic humor

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

In COVID-19 clinical update #98, Daniel Griffin reviews COVID-19 in South Africa, recognition of Omicron by ancestral T cells, booster effectiveness against disease, infection and vaccination in pregnant women, early Remdesivir to prevent progression to severe disease, management of hospitalized adults, Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients, vaccination and long COVID, and the true toll of the pandemic.

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 856 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

Alessandro Sette returns to TWiV to discuss the observation that SARS-CoV-2 vaccination induces T cells that are able to cross-recognize variants Alpha to Omicron.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Alessandro Sette

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 855 (95 MB .mp3, 97 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

  • Travel Award Applications (ASV) 1:01:36
  • Impact of variants on T cells (Cell Rep Med) 16:38
  • Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!
  • Letters read on TWiV 855 1:07:43

Weekly Picks 1:18:00

Brianne75 years of research on human diseases in 1 minute
Kathy10 second video of COVID-19 spread
RichDiffraction spike
Vincent John’s Furniture Repair and Transcend Furniture Gallery

Listener Picks

AlisonFDA drug shortages
IngridOne woman’s mission to get vaccines to her rural Alabama town

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV reviews findings that increased fitness of the Omicron variant is due to immune evasion, not an increase in intrinsic transmissibility, and determination of infectious viral load in patients infected with wild type, Delta and Omicron viruses reveals lack of correlation with RNA loads determined by RT-PCR, similar levels of shedding among Delta and Omicron, and greatly reduced shedding in vaccinated people.

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

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 854 (76 MB .mp3, 126 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Weekly Picks 1:40:03

DicksonFavorite Science Photos of 2021
BrianneViruses, Vaccines, and COVID-19 videos from American Museum of Natural History
KathyKlompas et al. “Current insights into respiratory virus transmission…”
RichLeviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey
Vincent Ebola (1996) by David Molesky at The Incubator

Listener Picks

RandallRobert Malone & Peter McCullough: A litany of untruths
SuellenOmicron and the case of the hidden evolution – Understanding Evolution

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

In COVID-19 clinical update #97, Daniel Griffin covers immunity after infection recognized by CDC, outcomes before and after Omicron, infectious viral load in Delta vs Omicron, PCR vs rapid antigen tests, booster interval shortened to 5 months, risk factors for severe outcomes in vaccinated, cross-reactive memory T cells, vaccine effectiveness vs MIS-C, and Rivaroxiban for thromboprophylaxis.

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 853 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

A TWiV threesome explains the observation that humans with inherited T cell CD28 deficiency are susceptible to severe warts driven by human papilloma virus infection, but are otherwise healthy.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 852 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min)
Subscribe (free): Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Weekly Picks 1:23:43

BrianneEvery Pore on Your Face Is a Walled Garden
Rich“On Warts” by Lewis Thomas (Pdf)
Vincent Cells at Work Code Black 1

Listener Picks

ChrisRia Lina on the Guilty Feminist podcast
DuncanMeet the green kleptos of the animal kingdom

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]